Titans Lose First Game, Even Up Season Series In Second Against Whitewater
WHITEWATER, Wis.- In the second day of a four-game neutral series against UW-Whitewater, the UW-Oshkosh baseball team split the games with a loss in the first game and a win in the second. The season series now sits at two games a piece.
Game One Recap
LJ Waco started the first game for Oshkosh and Cade Berendt started on the rubber for Whitewater.
Waco stranded one on base and struck out two in the top of the first to get the Titans up to bat for the first time of the day. With runners on first and third, Nicholas Shiu sent the first run home with a single to left that scored Jake Surane.
Neither team scored again until the eighth inning and both pitchers remained in the game until Logan King relieved Waco after he gave up a grand slam to Sam Vomhof with two outs in the top of the eighth.
Matt Scherrman responded in the bottom half of the inning, sending in three runs with a home run of his own to left field after Berendt was taken out in favor of Max Huseboe.
Donovan Brandl singled to put one on in the top of the ninth and advanced to second on an Alex Najera groundout. Bennett Frazer sent in the go ahead run with a single to left center. Whitewater had two runners on base later in the inning but stranded both on a groundout.
Sam Paden pitched against the Titans in the bottom of the ninth. Shiu singled down the left field line but was thrown out attempting to extend it to a double. Paden then struck out Mason Kirchberg and Connor Giusti to wrap up the game and earn his first save of the year.
Huseboe (2-0) earned the win in 1.0 inning of work, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out one. King was assigned the loss. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed a run on three hits.
Game Two Recap
Cameron Mulvihill started game two for the Titans, facing off against the Warhawks' Joey Pettit.
The Warhawks scored the first runs of the second game in the second inning when Jacob DeMeyer sent both home on an error that got him to third. He was stranded on third however, with the inning ending with a Vomhof groundout.
Oshkosh got on the board in the fourth inning, started by Shiu with a reach on error that sent Scherrman home and advanced Zach Taylor to second. Kirchberg hit the ball over the outfield fence in the following at bat to make the score 4-2. With two outs and Jake Andersen at third, Surane hit a triple to right to send Andersen home but did not score himself with Brenden Max grounding out after him.
In the top of the fifth, Adam Cootway moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt and Brandl scored to close the Titan lead to 5-3.
The game halted due to lightning in the area and didn't start again until about 40 minutes later.
After the break, Logan King came in to replace Mulvihill and finished the inning without giving up any hits or runs.
Whitewater tied the game back up at 5-5 in the top of the eighth. Frazer sent Najera home on a triple and Joe Gorden scored Frazer on an error.
Andersen recorded the go ahead RBI in the bottom of the eighth, singling to left to score Owen Housinger on two outs. King recorded two strikeouts in the ninth with a forced groundout to put the Warhawks down in order and record the win.
He pitched 2.2 innings to increase his season record to 2-2. Two runs scored on three hits and he struck out three. Logan Eisenbarth (0-1) was assigned the loss in 3.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits while striking out seven.
Looking Forward
The Titans will return to action Tuesday, taking on the Milwaukee School of Engineering for the second time this season on the road. The game is set to begin at noon. Oshkosh lost to the Raiders in their first meeting 5-4 on March 21.