Titans Rally To Gain Split With Blue Devils
Taylor Grimm drove home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of the nightcap as UW-Oshkosh split a baseball doubleheader with UW-Stout on Friday (April 28) in Menomonie.
UW-Stout (8-21, 5-9 WIAC) won the opener, 12-2, in seven innings before UW-Oshkosh came back for an 8-5 victory with four runs in the top of the ninth inning.
UW-Oshkosh (19-14, 9-5 WIAC), which had its five-game winning streak halted in the opener, remains second in the conference standings. The Titans trail UW-Whitewater (24-6, 11-3 WIAC) by two games with six league contests left.
In Friday's second game, UW-Stout reclaimed a 5-4 advantage in the bottom of the eighth inning on a Titan throwing error with two outs. However, UW-Oshkosh took the lead for the third and final time with four runs on just one hit in the ninth inning.
UW-Oshkosh sent nine batters to the plate during the fateful ninth inning. Zack Radde drew a leadoff walk against Blue Devils relief pitcher Casey Ryan and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Alex Koch bunted Radde to third base with one out, and Sam Schwenn walked and subsequently stole second base.
Grimm's single scored Radde and Schwenn with the tying and go-ahead runs before Ryan walked three consecutive batters, extending UW-Oshkosh's lead to 7-5 and concluding Ryan's outing. The Titans' Johnny Eagan then drove in an insurance run with a groundout against new UW-Stout relief pitcher Robert Pilz.
UW-Stout brought the potential tying run to the plate with two outs in the home half of the ninth inning, but UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Alex Larson struck out Jack Hemsath to secure the win.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Colan Treml tossed eight-plus innings with six strikeouts to improve his record to 5-1 on the year. He allowed five runs (four earned) and scattered eight hits before exiting following a leadoff walk in the ninth inning.
Larson earned his first collegiate save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Larson now sports a 0.82 earned run average in 11 innings pitched this season.
UW-Stout outhit UW-Oshkosh, 9-4, during the nightcap, but four Blue Devil pitchers combined to issue 10 walks while the Titans allowed just two bases on balls – both by Treml.
Johnny Eagan had two of the Titans' hits and knocked in a pair of runs. Eagan, who homered in Friday's opener, increased his reached base streak to 33 games.
UW-Oshkosh's Tyler Kozlowski had a hit in his lone official at-bat while adding a sacrifice fly and three walks. Schwenn and Jack Paulson also drew a pair of walks apiece for the Titans.
The Titans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out error by UW-Stout. The Blue Devils answered with two runs in the bottom of the first frame on a run-scoring single by Joel Hollow and a sacrifice fly from Noah Brown.
A third-inning sacrifice fly by Eagan gave UW-Oshkosh a 3-2 lead before Hollow homered in the fourth to knot the score. The score was tied again at 4 following sacrifice flies from UW-Stout's Jon Krueger in the sixth inning and the Titans' Kozlowski in the eighth.
The Blue Devils then reclaimed a 5-4 advantage in the bottom of the eighth inning as Treml ceded a pair of one-out singles ahead of a Titan throwing error that allowed a run with two outs.
Hollow went 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two runs batted in to pace the Blue Devils.
Ryan (0-2) was saddled with the loss for UW-Stout after surrendering four runs on one hit and five walks while recording just one out in the ninth inning.
UW-Stout starting pitcher Luke Eide limited the Titans to three runs on two hits across the first seven innings, and Blue Devils reliever Brad Rindfleisch gave up one run in his one inning of work. Eide walked four batters and Rindfleisch one.
In Friday's opener, Eagan launched a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, but UW-Stout responded with two runs in the third frame, three in the fifth frame and seven during the seventh inning to invoke the 10-run rule.
The Blue Devils pounded out 11 hits, including a walk-off home run by Jordan Wilson with two outs in the seventh inning.
UW-Stout starting pitcher Derek Graves (9-5) earned the complete-game victory, allowing two runs on six hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out three while holding the Titans to just four singles after the first inning.
The Titans stranded eight baserunners, including two in both the second and sixth innings as Graves escaped the second frame with a double play and the sixth inning with three straight flyouts.
Clinging to a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Blue Devils invoked the 10-run rule with five hits and the aid of two UW-Oshkosh errors.
Brown reached first base on a one-out error to begin UW-Stout's decisive seventh inning. Krueger followed with a single, and Matt Emmer walked to load the bases and conclude UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Lucas Gregory's outing.
UW-Stout's Ben Vanhove, Tim Bott and Sam Waters greeted new UW-Oshkosh pitcher Carter Turnquist with consecutive singles that upped the Blue Devils' lead to 9-2.
The Titans' Matt Goetz, who relieved Turnquist, then registered a strikeout for the second out, but a failed pickoff throw by the UW-Oshkosh catcher allowed the 10th UW-Stout run to score before Wilson's first home run of the year concluded the game.
UW-Stout tied the score at 2 with a pair of runs on a two-out error in the third inning. The Blue Devils then took the lead on a run-scoring single by Krueger in the fifth frame.
Krueger and Wilson both had three of UW-Stout's 11 hits while Kozlowski tallief three hits for UW-Oshkosh.
Eight of UW-Stout's 12 runs were unearned as UW-Oshkosh committed three errors.
Turnquist (0-1) suffered the pitching loss for the Titans after yielding three runs without recording an out in the seventh inning.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Nick McLees allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits over the first 4.1 innings, and Gregory was charged with five runs (two earned) in two-plus innings of work.
The Titans and Blue Devils conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday (April 29) in Menomonie.