Pitching Keys Titans' Sweep Of Yellowjackets
Peter Jewell pitched a shutout in the opener, Jesse Sustacheck tossed six scoreless innings in the second game and UW-Oshkosh baseball team swept two games at UW-Superior on Saturday (April 18).
The Titans (13-13, 5-9 WIAC) won by scores of 8-0 in the first game and 11-4 in the second contest.
John Eagan went 5-for-9 on the day to pace the UW-Oshkosh offense. Eagan recorded multiple hits in both contests and increased his batting average to .460 and his on-base percentage to .541, both team bests.
UW-Oshkosh's Andy Brahier had a total of six runs batted on the day while Tyler Kozlowski added four RBIs.
In the opener, Jewell scattered eight hits and recorded six strikeouts in registering his first career shutout. Jewell has now allowed just one earned run over his last 18.1 innings pitched.
Kozlowski gave the Titans a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the first inning, and Brahier added an RBI single in the third frame.
UW-Oshkosh upped its advantage to 6-0 with three unearned runs after two were out on three hits and one error in the sixth inning. Eagan drove home one and Brahier knocked in two on singles.
Kozlowski and Brahier capped the scoring with consecutive run-scoring doubles – the only extra-base hits of the game – in the eighth inning.
Brahier ended the opener 4-for-5 with four RBIs while Kozlowski delivered three runs batted in on two hits. Logan Reckert added three hits and three runs and Eagan had three runs, two hits and one RBI for UW-Oshkosh.
Brady Flaherty, Matt Vold, Seth Wage each had two of UW-Superior's eight singles.
Damian Wiblin (1-4) took the loss for the Yellowjackets, yielding six runs (three earned) on 10 hits in six innings pitched. He struck out six and walked two.
In the nightcap, Sustacheck (3-0) gave up just four hits and one walk while striking out eight batters in six solid innings.
UW-Oshkosh's Jacob Pohlman broke a scoreless tie with a two-run double in the third inning, and Kozlowski came in on an error to give the Titans a 3-0 lead.
Cooper Lang, making his first plate appearances of the season for UW-Oshkosh, drove home the Titans' fourth run with a solo homer in his third collegiate at-bat. Lang doubled in his second at-bat and ended the game 2-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
The Yellowjackets tallied their first run of the day in the seventh frame off of Titan reliever Lucas Gregory, but UW-Oshkosh put the game away by exploding for seven unearned runs on six hits and one error in the ninth inning.
Eagan, Kozlowski, Jack Paulson and Logan Reckert all drove in one run with singles, Brahier knocked in two with a single of his own and pinch runner Ben Hildebrandt came in to score on a wild pitch. Eight of the first nine Titan batters of the inning reached base via a hit, error or hit-by-pitch.
UW-Superior loaded the bases with no outs in the last of the ninth inning and marked three runs to provide the final score.
Eagan and Noah Polcyn both had three of the Titans' 13 hits.
Flaherty paced UW-Superior (4-21, 0-10 WIAC) with three hits while Jordan Koepp recorded the Yellowjackets' lone extra-base hit of the day with a leadoff double in the sixth inning.
Rich Vanden Branden (1-5) suffered the loss for UW-Superior, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits in seven innings pitched. He struck out six and walked none.
Riley Grandson relieved Vanden Branden to begin the eighth frame and gave up seven unearned runs on six hits in 1.1 innings pitched.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its season series with the Yellowjackets with a doubleheader on Sunday (April 19) in Superior.