Titans Trap Yellowjackets For WIAC Tournament Berth

UW-Oshkosh had its highest-scoring day of league play and clinched a conference tournament spot with two baseball victories over UW-Superior on Saturday (May 7) at Tiedemann Field.

Doug Beattie (So. • Escanaba, Mich.) marked four hits as the Titans easily took game one, 10-4. After nearly watching a seven-run cushion disappear, UW-Oshkosh pulled away for a 14-7 nightcap victory. The Titans (24-10/13-9 WIAC), ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, will be one of three teams at next week's (May 13-14) WIAC Tournament in Stevens Point.

UW-Oshkosh posted three hits in the opener's third frame and five during the fourth to gain a 7-0 cushion. In the third, Derek Hiroskey (Sr. • Kimberly) crushed a ball to center and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer. The next inning featured Derek Layton's (So. • Cross Plains) two-run single and a pair of sacrifice flies.

The Yellowjackets (12-25/7-15 WIAC) slowly chipped away with a run in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth. They marked on singles by Tony Remund, Jeff Miller and Mike Labelle. Following Mitch Loegering's double during the eighth, he made it a 7-4 score by touching home on a groundout.

Beattie roped a two-run triple in the ninth to cap the Titans' 15-hit total. Luke Westphal (Jr. • Clintonville) went the distance, yielding three earned runs, to bump his record to 6-0. The loss went to Ethan Branum, who surrendered eight earned runs over nine innings.

During the nightcap, the Titans again bolted to a 7-0 lead early. After marking on a sacrifice fly in the first, Kamps pounded a run-scoring double in the second. UW-Oshkosh's four-run second frame also featured a two-run homer from Beattie and a run-scoring single by Kyle Van Abel (Jr. • Kaukauna).

UW-Superior put up seven runs in the fifth inning to make it an 8-7 contest. A walk and hit batsman put Tom Fairbanks in position to end the shutout. He delivered a three-run blast over the right-field wall. Loegering added another three-run bomb to pull within one.

Kamps, whose hitting streak reached 19 games, tacked on one RBI in both the fourth and seventh frames to keep UW-Oshkosh in front. A four-run ninth inning then put the game away. Sean Grabig (So. • Howard) knocked in two runs with a single before Hiroskey pulled a run-scoring double to left.

The Titans racked up 14 hits, with six going for extra bases. Nolan Fadness (Sr. • Eau Claire) totaled three base hits and three runs scored, as Van Abel and Layton each touched home three times. UW-Superior's eight hits included two apiece by Derek Hahn and Robbie Veith.

Troy Mrkvicka (Jr. • Greendale) faced just one batter over the minimum in his four shutout innings for the save. Matt Wells (So. • Little Chute) picked up the win, allowing seven runs in the opening five frames. UW-Superior's Nick Bursik (4 ER) got the loss after two innings, while Travis Elwood (2 ER) pitched four frames and Andrew Lange (4 ER) the last two.

UW-Oshkosh hosts UW-Superior again on Sunday (May 8) at Tiedemann Field.