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Bolcoa’s blast buries Sabres
By: John Dinse

Scott Bolcoa picked the perfect time to introduce himself to Titan fans Sunday afternoon at Tiedemann Field.

Pinch-hitting with two-on, two-out in the eighth inning, Bolcoa crushed the first pitch he saw from Marian College reliever Dan Wolter over the right field wall.

Bolcoa’s three-run home run was his first of the season and put the Titans, who were forced to rally all day against the Sabres, up for good 13-11.

“The pitcher threw a fastball right down the middle and I connected on the first pitch, said Bolcoa in the April 6 issue of the Advance Titan.

Bolcoa, a senior transfer from Avila University in Kansas City, had played sparingly prior to Sunday. Still, Head Coach Tom Lechnir didn’t hesitate to pinch hit Bolcoa in a pressure situation.

Quote from Lechnir

Titan pitchers struggled with pitch location all day allowing 11 runs on 18 hits.

UW-Oshkosh starter, sophomore Adam Bretl, cruised through the first two innings only to run into trouble in the third. Following back-to-back RBI singles by Josh Wolter and Dan Wilson, Sabre catcher Kurt Miller hit a three-run bomb off of Bretl.

Marian added two more runs in the fourth inning off of junior reliever Jim Ziegler to extend their lead 7-3.

After the Sabres scored one more time in the top half of the sixth inning, the Titan offense came to life.

Following a RBI fielder’s choice by sophomore Eric Holdorf, senior All-American Jeremy Jirschele ripped a three-run home run off of Sabre starter Jason Bunton to bring the Titan within a run, 8-7.

Marian would not go away scoring two runs in the top of the seventh and adding one more in the eight.

Down 10-11 in the bottom of the eighth with two-on, two-out Lechnir went to Bolcoa, a decision that resulted in a three-run blast and a Titan victory.

UWO pitchers were helped by the double play all day, tying a NCAA Division III record by turning six in game one of the doubleheader.

The Titans entered Sunday’s doubleheader ranked ninth in Division III.

Currently 11-1, the Titans will host a twinbill Wednesday versus Cardinal-Stritch University. Start time for the game is 1 p.m. The Titans will resume conference play with a pair of doubleheaders against UW-La Crosse on Saturday and Sunday at Tiedemann Field.