If Monday’s season-opening doubleheader is any indication of how the Titans baseball team will perform from here on out, it may be a very good season.
UW-Oshkosh swept Augsburg College (Minn.) after winning 8-1 and 5-4 at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis, which was the first time the teams had met since 1986.
Senior ace Kyle Kannenberg took the mound for the Titans in the first game and had a stellar performance, only giving up two hits and one run.
Oshkosh took the lead in the bottom of the second inning after junior catcher Derek Hiroskey scored on a passed ball and freshmen shortstop Tyler Kamps scored on an RBI single by senior outfielder Lucas Wirth.
The Titans lit up the scoreboard again in the third inning when junior first basemen Blake Berger tripled to center field and then crossed home plate after a wild pitch.
Berger’s score was followed by sophomore third basemen Andrew Eichstaedt who scored on Hiroskey’s single to center field.
The fifth and sixth innings were just as productive as Oshkosh’s first and second appearances at the plate, scoring four runs on four hits.
Augsburg’s only two hits came in the third and seventh innings, and the only run was scored on an infield hit.
Hiroskey led the Titans hits with three hits, and senior second basemen Mickey Fadness led the team with two RBIs.
Eight of the nine Titan batters had hits, the kind of bloated on-base percentage that usually gets the win.
Kannenberg faced 24 batters, only three over the minimum number of at bats in a game.
Since Kannenberg breezed through his start and kept his pitch count low, he was able to come back later in the second game and record a save.
“I rarely have a sore arm and only threw 85 pitches the first game, so I had more in me,” Kannenberg said. “Last year I was used like that, where I’d start games and close the following, so it was nothing new to me, and I knew I would be in these types of situations this year.”
Not many pitchers have the ability to bounce back and perform at a high level like Kannenberg did Monday.
“He’s one of those guys that has the rare ability to be able to come back and do stuff like that,” assistant coach Brian Gerl said. “He’s pretty efficient with his mechanics.”
His performance on the mound was a key to victory in the first game, and it got the team in a position to carry over their success into the second game.
“I was just focused on putting our team in the right direction by getting a win and momentum going into game two,” he said.
Although the team was going in the right direction and had the momentum, the nightcap turned out to be a little more competitive.
“We had a little trouble in the second game picking up the pitcher … we weren’t getting the best swings off him,” Gerl said. “Offensively, we couldn’t quite put it together but defensively we played a pretty good game.”
Freshmen Sean Grabig started on the mound for the Titans and gave up three runs, two hits and had two strikeouts.
Sophomore Luke Westphal took over for Grabig in the fourth inning and gave up zero runs and only three hits until Kannenberg relieved him in the seventh.
Oshkosh got the go ahead run in the first inning when junior centerfielder Nolan Fadness scored on an Eichstaedt double to left field.
Augsburg opened up in the third by scoring three runs on two hits, and Oshkosh didn’t respond until the fifth inning after a RBI single from Blake Berger and a two-run double by Eichstaedt.
Oshkosh scored again in the sixth inning when Nolan Fadness drove in Wirth, increasing the Titans’ lead to two runs.
The seventh inning proved to be the final showdown for the two teams when Oshkosh escaped a bases-loaded jam.
Augsburg scored on a double to left field and Kannenberg intentionally walked Craig Henry to load the bases, which led to Trent Anderson grounding out to second base to end the game.
The final at bat of the game was a turning point for Kannenberg, who had to rethink his pitching strategy in order to get out of the inning.
“I took him to a 3-0 count and it hit me that I was overthrowing and just had to throw strikes,” he said. “I knew they wouldn’t hit me if I could just get the ball across the plate since I was getting their hitters to get themselves out all game.”
The Titans hope to get another pair of wins on March 13, when they have another doubleheader in Minneapolis against Edgewood College.
Be the first to comment on this article!