The Titans won their home opener on Tuesday in front of a franchise-record 7,152 fans, making it the highest-attended Frontier League game so far this season. The previous attendance record was 5,602 spectators during the 2023 season.

Ottawa beat the New Jersey Jackals by a score of 7-6 in sudden death, making use of a unique rule that has been introduced to settle tied games in a quicker fashion. 

While most professional leagues proceed to extra frames if a game is tied after nine innings, the Frontier League allows for one extra inning to be played before invoking the sudden death rule, in which the home team selects offence or defence for a final three batters. 

Then, whichever team is on offence is granted a runner on first and, if they score, they win. However, if the team on defence secures three outs before a run is scored, they are deemed the winners.

In Tuesday night’s game, the Titans fell behind 5-3 in the early innings, before tying it up in the eighth. After the two squad’s traded runs in the tenth inning, the Titans opted to play defence in the sudden death situation, and pitcher Brett Garcia struck out two batters and forced the third into a fly-ball situation, giving Ottawa the win. 

The Titans followed up their win with another victory on Wednesday, taking down the Jackals by a score of 7-4. The two teams will meet again at Ottawa Stadium on Thursday evening, when the Titans will have an opportunity to complete the sweep in the final game of the series.

The back-to-back wins have brought Ottawa back to .500 in the league standings, as they’ve now won five games and lost five games to begin the season. That leaves the Titans sitting in third-place in the league’s north division, behind the Quebec Capitales and Tri-City ValleyCats. 

The regular season runs until late August, afterwards the top four teams in each division qualify for the playoffs.

After Thursday’s matchup, the Titans will welcome the New York Boulders to the nation’s capital for another three-game series.

Tickets for those games are still available, while the games can also be heard on the local radio station CKDJ 107.9.

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Among the returnees will be 24-year-old Jake Dixon, who had a 2.81 earned run average (ERA) and didn’t give up a home run during nine appearances last year. Dixon started one game and appeared eight times in relief, pitching a total of 16 innings and ending the campaign with a 2-1 record.

The 6-foot-4 Dixon, who spent five years at Fresno State University, was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in the 39th round of the 2019 MLB draft, but was never signed. He started last season in the California Collegiate League before making the move to the nation’s capital.

The Titans also re-upped CJ Blowers, a 28-year-old starter who posted an immaculate 0.87 ERA last year over 31 innings. Blowers had a 0-1 record in his five appearances, though a pitcher’s record can be misleading as it’s based on who is on the mound when the team takes or gives up the lead.

According to a press release, Blowers pitched 18.1 innings before allowing his first earned run last season. He played collegiate baseball at California State University, San Bernandino, and started the 2024 campaign with the Seattle Blackfins in the Pacific International Collegiate League.

Currently, four of the Titans’ five pitchers are lefties, including Dixon, Blowers, and Grant Larson, the latter of whom was a Frontier League all-star last season.

Ottawa starts its 2025 season on May 9, when they will travel to North Carolina to play the Down East Bird Dawgs. The home opener is slated for May 20, when the Titans will welcome the New Jersey Jackals at Ottawa Stadium.

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