Titans Split Wild Doubleheader to Open Canadian Swing

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE - GAME 1

OFFICIAL FRONTIER LEAGUE BOX SCORE - GAME 2

Trois-Rivières, QC - Starting a big seven-game trip, the Ottawa Titans (39-27) and Trois-Rivières Aigles (35-32) split Tuesday's twin bill, with the Aigles winning Game One by a 10-9 final, but the Titans returned the favour by scoring a 7-5 win in Game Two.

Game One - Trois-Rivières 10, Ottawa 9

In a crazy series opener, the Titans saw themselves down 9-3 after two - but stormed their way back midway through the contest, only to be walked off in the bottom half of the seventh inning to lose the opener.

The offence got off to a hot start - adding two runs on a pair of hits against Braeden Allemann (ND, 5-2) to take an early lead in the first. Brendan O'Donnell knocked in the opening run with a single, as Jamey Smart's sac fly doubled the lead before the defence even took to the field.

However, the lead didn't last very long - as Bryan Peña (ND, 4-5) failed to make it out of the first inning, allowing eight runs on five hits, walking two, over two-thirds of an inning. In the blink of an eye - the Aigles had an 8-2 lead and seemed in control.

With the teams trading runs in the second - the Titans found themselves behind 9-3 - but started to stage a comeback in the middle frames.

Scott Prins bridged the gap out of the bullpen for the Titans - allowing just an unearned run in four innings of relief to keep the team in the game.

In the fourth, the Titans pulled within two - seeing two-run homers from Taylor Wright and AJ Wright make things interesting.

Down 9-7, the Titans tied the game in the fifth against reliever Shaun Atamanchuk - as Lamar Briggs extended his hit streak to ten games with an RBI single - before Taylor Wright pulled the game level with a sac fly.

Locked in a tie at nine - it took until the bottom of the seventh to decide the winner. After throwing an inning and a third of scoreless relief, Zach Voelker (loss, 0-1) saw a leadoff Payton Robertson single come across to score courtesy of Willie Estrada's walk-off base hit to left.

Game Two - Ottawa 7, Trois-Rivières 5

In yet another tight affair, the Titans used a quality outing from Tyler Jandron (win, 6-4) to salvage the split in the crucial twin bill to hold onto second place in the division.

Once again, the offence used a quick start against Michell Miliano (loss, 1-4), as the Titans got out to a 3-0 with a trio of tallies on four hits. Brendan O'Donnell extended his on-base streak to 27 straight with an RBI double before Jamey Smart extended his hit streak to eight in a row with a two-run hit to right.

In the second, the Titans didn't let back - seeing Evan Berkey's leadoff single score on an AJ Wright single, as O'Donnell knocked in his second of the game and fourth on the day with a ground ball.

With a big lead early, Jandron saw a pair of two-out RBI hits from James Smibert and Thomas Green get the Aigles on the board in the last of the second.

After getting another run of support in the third - it was plenty for the Titans' southpaw - Jandron gave the visitors six innings of two-run ball - allowing six hits, not walking a batter, and striking out three for his sixth win of the year. For Jandron, he ended the night retiring 13 of the final 15 he faced to earn his first career win against the Aigles.

With a third driven in by Jamey Smart to end three and a third scoreless relief from Kosei Naito in the seventh, the Titans carried a 7-2 lead to the last half-inning.

Erasmo Piñales allowed a season-high three runs in the seventh inning, seeing the Aigles put the tying run on base with one out in the inning. After a meeting on the mound, the all-star righty locked in to get a pop out off the bat of Dalton Combs before striking out Rodrigo Orozco to end the threat.

The Ottawa Titans continue a seven-game Canadian road trip, with game three of a four-game set against the Trois-Rivières Aigles on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. from Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières, Québec. After four with the Aigles, the Titans play three against the Québec Capitales over the weekend at Stade Canac for the first time this season. All the action can be heard on CKDJ 107.9 and 94,5 Unique FM and live-streamed on Flo Baseball.

For information on tickets, group outings, and nine-game mini packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.