Peña Rolls Past Greys, Titans Take Series

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Ottawa, ON - In his home debut, Bryan Peña (win, 4-3) gave the Ottawa Titans (46-43) six and two-thirds fantastic innings to defeat the Empire State Greys (16-73) by a 4-2 final on Saturday.

The transition to the nation's capital started well for Peña, who got the first out of the opening frame on a fly ball to left. Next, JR DiSarcina reached on an E5 to stand in scoring position on the two-base error. Two batters later, Josh Sears put the Greys in front with an RBI double off the right-field wall to score DiSarcina. The unearned run against was the lone tally the Greys recorded off the Titans' southpaw.

Wes Albert (loss, 0-2) pitched out of trouble in the first two innings, seeing the Titans leave a combined five on base.

That was until the fourth, when runners stood at the corners for Jamey Smart, who drilled a go-ahead two-run double off the fence in right to plate two.

In the fifth, Taylor Wright's double to the track in centre off lefty Michael Barker scored one, putting the Titans ahead 3-1.

The Titans added one more for good measure with a solo homer to start the seventh from Jake Sanford. The tape measure shot from the Canadian was his first homer back with the Titans and went an estimated 424 feet off the light pole in right.

Peña exited after getting a double play ball in the seventh. The lefty allowed just one run (unearned) on two hits, walked one, and struck out six for the win. At one point, Peña retired ten in a row and 15 of a possible 16.

Chris Burica allowed a run on a trio of hits across an inning and two-thirds of relief before Erasmo Piñales (save, 5) rolled a double play in the ninth to finish off the victory.

In the win, Jamey Smart recorded his second-straight three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a walk. AJ Wright, Jake Sanford, and Talyor Wright each registered multi-hit performances.

The Ottawa Titans continue their final homestand of the 2023 regular season, with the series finale with the Empire State Greys on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. from Ottawa Stadium. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and live-streamed on Flo Baseball. For information on 2023 single-game tickets, group outings, nine-game mini packs, and 2024 season tickets, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.