Titans Drop Rain-Shortened Finale to Bird Dawgs

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE

Ottawa, ON - A big top of the sixth inning sunk the Ottawa Titans (31-32) in a 7-1 loss to the Down East Bird Dawgs (28-34) on Thursday - seeing the clubs split the four-game mid-week series. The game was called due to rain following seven completed innings of play.

Mac Lardner (loss, 3-4) dominated through the first four innings, where the lefty retired eight in a row to start the game. The only traffic to reach against Larder was a single from Tyler Blaum in the third and a base knock from Yassel Pino in the fourth.

The offence presented a glorious chance to open the scoring against right-hander Spencer Johnston (win, 6-4) in the bottom of the first. Jackie Urbaez cranked a double off the right field wall and advanced to third on a single from AJ Wright. The veteran Johnston got out of the inning by getting Nolan McCarthy to pop out and Victor Cerny to ground into an inning-ending double play.

A walk and single for the Bird Dawgs to start the fifth inning proved to be large, as the visitors struck first to go up 2-0. Tyler Blaum lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate one before Stephen DiTomaso ripped an RBI single to right-centre to plate another.

Two hits and a walk loaded the bags for the Bird Dawgs in the top of the sixth, seeing the night end for Lardner. The Titans turned to right-hander Zach Cameron, who walked Trotter Harlan to bring in a run. Sacrifice flies from Ali LaPread and Stephen DiTomaso added to score before Trey Law plated a fifth run of the inning on an RBI single. Before all was said and done, the Bird Dawgs sent ten to the plate, adding five runs on four hits.

The Titans' starter saw his line finish at five-plus innings, allowing five runs on six hits, walking two, and striking out five.

From innings two through six, Bird Dawgs right-hander Johnston saw just two baserunners reach.

In the seventh, the Titans broke the goose egg with a pair of doubles to get on the board. Nolan McCarthy smoked an extra-base hit to the left field corner and later stole third, setting up a sac fly from Bradlee Preap to make it 7-1. A two-out double from Kaiden Cardoso was later left on base.

After Zach Cameron allowed two of his own runs on two hits, walking two, and striking out two in his lone inning of work - left-hander Kaleb Hill fanned a pair in a clean seventh.

As the top of the eighth was slated to begin, the skies opened up. Following an hour delay, the game was called due to rain.

The Titans see their streak of eight consecutive series victories come to a close. The team has now dropped both opportunities with a chance to move over the .500 mark for the first time since the first week of the season in the last five days.

The Ottawa Titans continue their first homestand of the second half with the opener of a three-game series against the Evansville Otters on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa Stadium. Fans will be entertained with post-game fireworks, presented by Archangel Fireworks. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and live-streamed on Frontier League TV, powered by HomeTeam Network.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2025 Single-Game Tickets, Group Outings, and Nine-Game Mini Packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.