Over spring break, UW Oshkosh students tend to travel to warmer places to escape the fluctuating Wisconsin temperatures. The men’s baseball team also took a trip to a warmer place, but they did so to play ball.

The team traveled down to Florida, where it played and won six games. It played its games in Auburndale and Winter Haven.

The teams that the Titans defeated included Springfield College (Mass.), Hamilton College (N.Y.), Grinnell College (Iowa), Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.), Keuka College (N.Y.), North Central College (Ill.) and Kalamazoo College (Mich.) by scores of 24-3, 13-2, 5-3, 8-7, 5-3, 11-8 and 13-5, respectively.

Oshkosh lost the first four games of the season. It turned it around as soon as its first game in Florida began.

“Before our first game in Florida, we had the mentality that our season starts today. We put the earlier games behind us and took what we had to improve on into the Florida games,” freshman catcher Logan Reckert said. “We knew we had to kick it up a notch and be focused right from the beginning.”

They did just that, winning their first game in Florida by 21 runs. They continued their dominance throughout the entire six games, winning their games by an average of 8 runs.

“I think we played more of a complete game throughout our trip,” freshman third/first-baseman Andy Brahier said. “Our pitchers threw very well and for the most part we either gave them a lead to work with or battled back with the bats.”

In the game against North Central College, the Titans were losing 7-3 after the first four innings. The team battled back and ended up winning by 3.

“Even though we probably didn’t play our best game especially in the first few innings, it was great to see the team battle back both on the mound and with the bats to make a comeback against a solid team in North Central,” Brahier said.

Grinnell College was another tough opponent for Oshkosh. Grinnell’s pitcher, Andrew Mack, held the Titans scoreless for the first three innings.

“At first we struggled hitting him,” Reckert said. He was in a groove and we had to figure out a way to change the flow of the game. We ended up making an adjustment and figured out a way to create runs. This game was close the entire time.”

Since its offense was not nearly as effective as they would have liked, Oshkosh had to play stifling defense to alleviate the difference. They did, holding Grinnell to only three runs.

Junior Robbie Kleman said the team needs to keep producing runs like they did in Florida.

“People got on base and the guys behind them did a good job producing the hits to get them in,” Kleman said.

UWO only committed 6 errors over the six games. Reckert recognized the importance of quality defense.

“Our defense really came together this trip,” Reckert said. “If we continue to be solid on defense and make plays, our offense will follow.”

Brahier said he thinks the team grew closer together over this trip.

“Staying with the guys in condos and playing nearly every day helped us get to know each other better on and off the field, which can only help our performance,” Brahier said.

UW Oshkosh begins the conference season with a four-game series against UW-La Crosse on April 2.