Titans Sweep Yellowjackets In Home Opener
The home debut for UW-Oshkosh head baseball coach Kevin Tomasiewicz was a successful one as the Titans earned a pair of wins over UW-Superior on Sunday (April 6) at Tiedemann Field.
James Lacy and Ben Messenger combined for a six-hit shutout to lead UW-Oshkosh (9-5/2-2 WIAC) to a 2-0 victory in the opener. The Titans then rallied for a 6-5 win in the nightcap as Trey Demler smashed a seventh-inning home run to account for the game's decisive score.
The first game was a pitching duel between Lacy, Messenger and UW-Superior's Travis Elwood.
Lacy started on the mound for the Titans and pitched into the seventh inning before being replaced by Messenger, who hurled the final 2.2 frames. Lacy (2-1) scattered five hits and struck out five batters to earn the win, while Messenger recorded the save after allowing just one hit with three strikeouts.
Elwood was impressive for the Yellowjackets (8-5/0-2 WIAC) as well. He suffered the complete-game loss despite allowing just five hits and counting nine strikeouts.
Aided by a fielding error, UW-Oshkosh took a 1-0 lead on Robbie Kleman's fourth-inning single. The Titans held their one-run advantage until Neil Hebert produced another score with his double in the seventh inning.
UW-Superior left 10 runners on base, including two in the first and seventh innings. The Yellowjackets had only three hits after the second inning.
Bobby Kachel had two of UW-Oshkosh's five hits, while Tyler Evans had two of UW-Superior's six.
UW-Superior took the early lead in the second game, as it scored three runs without a hit in the second inning. The Yellowjackets benefited from four walks, one hit batter and one UW-Oshkosh error.
UW-Oshkosh sliced its deficit to 3-2 in the second and third innings. The Titans scored both runs on infield singles, hits by Tyler Kozlowski in the second inning and Hebert in the third.
UW-Superior made the score 4-2 when Alex Quinones blasted a fourth-inning home run. The Titans got that run back when Kleman scored on a Yellowjacket throwing error in the fifth.
UW-Superior scored its final run in the sixth inning. Tom Fairbanks singled and Sam Holden and Quinones walked to load the bases with nobody out. Evans drew a bases loaded walk to make the score 5-3, but pitcher Peter Jewell ended any further damage with a strikeout and a ground ball double play.
The Titans rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth inning on two-out singles by Kozlowski and Kleman.
Jake Lewis replaced UW-Superior starting pitcher Kyle Gauger in the seventh inning and immediately surrendered a go-ahead, solo home run to Demler on his first pitch. The home run was Demler's second of the season.
The Yellowjackets got runners on base in each of the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to score.
UW-Oshkosh totaled eight hits in the nightcap, including two each by Kozlowski, Kleman and Demler. Connor McLeod had two of UW-Superior's six hits.
Jewell (2-0) was the winning pitcher for the Titans. He allowed just one hit and struck out five batters over the final four innings. Joe Pavlovich started for UW-Oshkosh and was relieved by Matt Sabel in the second inning.
Gauger got the starting assignment for UW-Superior and allowed five runs and seven hits during his six innings of work. Lewis pitched the final two innings, with the only hit allowed being Demler's home run.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Superior conclude their four-game series on Monday (April 7) at Tiedemann Field. The first pitch will be thrown at 10:30 a.m.