Titans Defeated After Rallying Back From Eight-Run Deficit
After having its early eight-run lead evaporate into a deficit, Carthage College staged a two-out, seventh inning rally to claim an 11-9 victory over the UW-Oshkosh baseball team on Sunday (March 15) in Kenosha.
The Red Men swept the three-game, season-opening set between the teams after winning contests of 4-1 and 6-5 on Saturday (March 14). UW-Oshkosh now holds a 15-10 all-time record against Carthage College.
Carthage College (3-0) tallied three runs in the first and second innings and two more in the third to take an 8-0 advantage.
UW-Oshkosh (0-3) stormed back to take a 9-8 lead with a six-run fourth inning and a three-run fifth. The Red Men reclaimed an 11-9 advantage with three runs in the seventh inning after the bases were empty with two outs.
Zach Wade went 4-for-4 with three runs to lead Carthage College. Drew Bailey and Nick Schmidlkofer added two hits apiece for the Red Men, who also received a three-run homer from Reed Hero.
Chris Pedrak earned the win by pitching 5.1 innings in relief. Pedrak allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk while striking out one.
Hero launched a home run off UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Matt Sabel in the bottom of the first inning to give Carthage College a 3-0 advantage.
The Red Men increased their lead to 4-0 on a two-out, run-scoring single by Luc DiMaso in the second inning. They added two more runs in the inning courtesy of consecutive throwing errors by UW-Oshkosh infielders.
Carthage College upped its lead to 8-0 in the third inning on an outfield error that allowed one run to score and a sacrifice fly by Graham Wick that tallied another.
UW-Oshkosh stormed back with six runs – equaling its previous two-game total – in the fourth inning. Andy Brahier got the Titans on the board with a run-scoring single. Connor Funnell scored another by drawing a two-out walk with the bases loaded. Neal Ori and Jack Paulson then came around to score on an error, and Logan Reckert capped the inning with a two-run triple down the right-field line.
Robbie Kleman crossed the plate on an error in the fifth inning, and Paulson scored another with a groundout. The Titans claimed a 9-8 lead on a Funnell sacrifice fly.
Carthage College began the bottom of the seventh with two groundouts, but exploded for three runs on three hits, two hit-by-pitches and one walk.
Wick tied the contest at 9 on an infield single, and Carthage College took the lead for good when DiMaso was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Red Men added an insurance run on a Schmidlkofer walk with the bases full.
The Titans were retired in order in the eighth and ninth innings.
Kleman paced UW-Oshkosh with three hits in five at-bats. Funnell and Reckert had a team-high two runs batted in.
Lucas Gregory took the loss by allowing three runs on three hits in 1.2 innings pitched. Gregory was the third Titan pitcher, entering in the sixth inning.
The Titans will play Webster University (Mo.) on Wednesday (March 18) in Sauget, Ill., before continuing on to Florida for eight contests from March 20-26.