Tuesday night’s home game against the Waseca Bluejays started about as well as possible with the Titans taking an early lead that they would hold for most of the night. The opportunistic Bluejays would finally get a chance in the top of the sixth though, plating three runs to take a lead that they would extend in the fifth, earning a 5-1 victory over TCU.
With the loss, the Titans fall to 1-2 (1-1 MRC) on the season.
Things looked promising in the first inning with pitcher Mason Novotny looking comfortable on the mound for TCU as he allowed his lone hit of the evening before stranding the Waseca runner on the base paths. In the bottom of the first, Nate Blaschko drew a walk before advancing to second on a stolen base,
Keegan O’Meara then drilled a single into the outfield which allowed the speedy Blaschko to score standing up, giving TCU a lead they would hold until the sixth inning. The defense for both teams would prove to be completely stalwart for most of the night, but in the top of the sixth, everything would turn.
The Bluejays leadoff hitter reached on a fielding error after a bobbled grounder wasn’t wrangled in. A wild pitch allowed that runner to reach second before a it by pitch put a second runner on. The third batter hit a hard liner to shortstop but Parker O’Malley made a nice snag to keep the runners at first and second with one out.
A second hit batter loaded the bases for Waseca but Novotny got his second out of the inning on a swinging strikeout. With two out and the bases loaded, the Waseca batter hit a soft floater towards first that wasn’t fielded cleanly, allowing Waseca to tie the game and keep the bases loaded.
A bases loaded full-count walk then gave the Jays a 2-1 lead before a wild pitch allowed them to score a third run. The inning finally came to a close when TCU got the next batter to line-out to second.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Titans would go down in order with the third and final out coming as the Waseca third baseman made an impressive diving catch just in front of the TCU dugout. Noah Rynda made the move from third to the mound for the top of the seventh and struck out the first two batters to put the Jays in a two-out hole.
Waseca wasn’t done though, as they put together a two-out rally with a single to left followed by an RBI double and an RBI single, taking a 5-1 lead before the Titans got out of the inning.
With just three outs remaining, TCU needed to get something going on offense and the first at bat from Dylan Fink looked promising as a grounder to shortstop put the Waseca defender deep against the grass. The shortstop though made an incredible throw from deep in the hole to get Fink by a step and the next two at-bat resulted in groundouts.
The Titans are scheduled to return to action Friday, April 12, when they host the Belle Plaine Tigers in a rescheduled matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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