Eagles Conquer Titans Twice
Justin Anderson collected seven of UW-La Crosse's 36 hits to lead the nationally ranked Eagles to a doubleheader sweep over the UW-Oshkosh baseball team on Sunday (April 17) in La Crosse.
UW-La Crosse (18-5, 8-0 WIAC) came from behind to win the first contest, 10-9, on Anderson's two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning before the Eagles secured a 10-7 victory in the nightcap. The Eagles, who also defeated the Titans by scores of 7-1 and 15-2 in seven innings on Saturday (April 16), swept the four-game regular-season series over UW-Oshkosh for the first time since 2012.
The Eagles, ranked 12th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, remain alone atop the conference standings while UW-Oshkosh (8-13-1, 3-5 WIAC) falls into a tie for third place with UW-Stevens Point (9-13, 3-5) and UW-Stout (10-10, 3-5).
Anderson went 5-for-6 with two doubles, one run and three runs batted in during Sunday's opener and 2-for-5 with a triple and a pair of runs in the second contest.
UW-La Crosse's Taylor Kohlwey, who had a double and a homer among his five hits on the day, extended his hitting streak to 25 games.
Johnny Eagan, Robbie Kleman and Trent Whitcomb each hit home runs for UW-Oshkosh as the Titans recorded 22 hits, including seven for extra bases. Kleman hit a go-ahead three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning during the opener, while Eagan socked a solo shot and Whitcomb blasted a three-run home run in the second contest.
In Sunday's opening game, UW-Oshkosh surrendered leads in both the seventh and ninth innings.
The Titans took a 2-1 advantage with a pair of runs in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Eagan and a two-out, run-scoring single by Andy Brahier off of UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Jameson Lavery.
UW-Oshkosh extended its lead to 4-1 in fifth frame on a two-run single by Eagan, but an RBI double by Anderson in the home half of the fifth inning and a run-scoring single by Nate Heili in the sixth trimmed the Eagles' deficit to 4-3 against Titans starting pitcher Ben Messenger.
The Titans responded with two more runs in the top of the seventh inning before the Eagles reclaimed a 7-6 lead with a four-run bottom of the seventh. Brahier and Kleman delivered consecutive two-out RBI singles for a 6-3 UW-Oshkosh advantage, but Alex Brown hit a two-run single to end Messenger's outing with one out in the seventh, and Joel Zyhowski connected on a two-run, two-out single against Titans relief pitcher Lucas Gregory.
After UW-La Crosse increased its lead to 8-6 on a run-scoring single by Ben Morgan in the eighth inning, Kleman launched his two-out, three-run homer – his second home run of the year – in the top of the ninth frame off of Eagles reliever Nic Pierick for a 9-8 Titan advantage.
Gregory retired the first two Eagles batters in the bottom of the ninth inning before Alex Cordova and Kohlwey both singled ahead of Anderson's game-winning hit.
Brown, Heili and Morgan each contributed three of the Eagles' 19 hits, while Zyhowski had a pair of hits and two RBIs.
Brahier and Kleman paced the Titans with three hits apiece. Kleman had a game-high four runs batted in while Eagan had two hits and drove in three runs.
Pierick (2-1) was credited with the win after pitching the final three innings and allowing three runs on five hits.
Gregory (0-2) was charged with the loss, ceding four runs (three earned) on eight hits and one walk in 2.1 innings pitched.
Messenger pitched the first 6.1 innings for the Titans and allowed six runs on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out seven.
Lavery lasted six innings on the mound for the Eagles, yielding six runs on seven hits and three walks.
In the nightcap, UW-La Crosse opened up a 5-0 lead after three innings and withstood a pair of three-run innings by the Titans.
The Eagles plated two runs on five hits in the second inning and added a pair of runs in the third frame, including one on a leadoff homer by Kohlwey, off of UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jesse Sustachek.
UW-Oshkosh cut its deficit to 5-4 with three runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth frame. Whitcomb got the Titans on the board with an RBI double and Taylor Grimm added a two-run double before Eagles starting pitcher Travis Stahulak could record an out in the fourth inning.
Mason McMahon relieved Stahulak and escaped further damage by inducing a double-play grounder off the bat of Dylan Ott with runners at first and third base with one out in the fourth inning.
Eagan cracked a home run – his third of the season – off of McMahon to lead off the fifth inning, but the Eagles pushed their lead to 8-4 with three runs in the sixth frame against UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Scott Gorsuch. Cordova and Kohlwey highlighted the inning with consecutive RBI doubles.
Whitcomb hit his second homer of the year – a three-run shot – off of McMahon to pull the Titans within 8-7 in the seventh inning, but Cordova tripled in a run and scored on a balk to cap the scoring in the bottom of the seventh frame.
Eagles closer Brock Rude allowed the Titans just one base runner in both of the last two innings to save the victory.
Cordova went 4-for-5 with one double, one triple, two runs and two RBIs. Kohlwey chipped in three of the Eagles' 17 hits.
Kleman collected three hits for the Titans, who also received two hits apiece from Eagan and Whitcomb.
McMahon (1-0) was the winning pitcher despite allowing four runs on four hits, including two home runs, in 3.1 innings.
Rude notched his second save of the season by tossing 2.2 scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out two.
Sustachek (1-2) took the loss for the Titans after giving up five runs on 11 hits and one walk in 3.1 innings pitched.
UW-La Crosse was the runner-up at the Division III Championship last season.
UW-Oshkosh will conduct its home opener when it plays Ripon College on Tuesday (April 19) at Tiedemann Field.