Eagles Slug Their Way Past Titans In WIAC Championship Opener
The best hitting baseball team in the NCAA Division III lived up to its billing as UW-La Crosse slugged three home runs and collected 17 hits on the way to defeating UW-Oshkosh, 14-4, in seven innings during the opening game of the WIAC Championship on Friday (May 13) in La Crosse.
Host and top seed UW-La Crosse (32-8) defeated fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh (18-20-1) for the fifth time in five meetings this season as Carter Hoffman and Alex Brown hit back-to-back homers in third inning and Alex Cordova hit a two-run shot in the sixth frame. The Eagles also pounded out five doubles against three Titan pitchers.
Cordova paced UW-La Crosse by going 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs and five runs batted in. Hoffman had three hits for the Eagles while Justin Anderson, Nate Heili, Taylor Kohlwey and Joel Zyhowski added two each. Kohlwey singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 43 games.
UW-Oshkosh received home runs from Andy Brahier, Jack Paulson and Trent Whitcomb, but UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Caleb Boushley limited the Titans to seven hits to earn the complete-game victory.
UW-La Crosse, ranked fourth in the country by D3baseball.com, advances to play at 4 p.m. Saturday (May 13) against the winner of second-seeded UW-Whitewater (27-12) and UW-Stevens Point (21-19). UW-Oshkosh will face the loser of UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday in the four-team, double-elimination league tournament.
The Eagles, who entered the tournament leading the nation with a .363 batting average, jumped out to a 6-0 lead with one run in the first inning, three in the third and two in the fourth. The Titans cut their deficit to 6-3, but UW-La Crosse answered with an eight-run outburst in the sixth inning.
Anderson, who leads the country with 1.67 runs batted in per game, opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in the first inning. Hoffman launched a two-run homer in the third frame, and Brown followed with a solo blast.
Cordova gave the Eagles a 5-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the fourth inning. Kohlwey, who leads the nation with a .493 batting average and 60 runs, followed with an RBI groundout against UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Ben Messenger.
Whitcomb broke up Boushley's shutout bid with a two-out, solo home run in the fifth inning, and Paulson added a two-run homer in the sixth frame to cut the Titan deficit to 6-3. The home runs were the second of the season for Paulson – both in the last two games – and the fourth for Whitcomb.
The Eagles then put the game away during the home half of the sixth inning with eight runs on seven hits, including six in a row to start the frame. Heili and Zyhowski led off the inning with singles ahead of Cordova, who hit a three-run home run that ended Messenger's outing.
Kohlwey, Anderson and Brown then greeted new Titans pitcher Max Keough with consecutive hits to give the Eagles a 10-3 advantage. After Brown plated Anderson with a groundout, Keough hit Ben Morgan with a pitch and walked Travis Buxton-Verstegen to load the bases before exiting in favor of relief pitcher Adam Rude.
Rude walked Heili to force in a run, Zyhowski hit an RBI groundout and Cordova delivered an RBI single that increased UW-La Crosse's lead to 14-3.
Brahier concluded the scoring with his second home run of the season, a solo shot with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, before the game ended by virtue of the 10-run rule.
Boushley improved his record to 8-0 on the season and notched his fourth complete game of the year. He struck out four and walked one.
Dylan Ott led UW-Oshkosh with a pair of hits, and Johnny Eagan added a double for the Titans.
Messenger (3-4) took the loss after surrendering nine runs on 13 hits with three strikeouts in five-plus innings pitched.
Keough yielded five runs on three hits and one walk in one-third of an inning pitched while Rude was not charged with a run in two-thirds of an inning of work.