Titans Conclude WIAC Agenda With Second-Place Finish

UW-Oshkosh finished the regular season tied for second place in the WIAC baseball standings after losing a pair of games to nationally ranked UW-Whitewater on Saturday (May 6) at Tiedemann Field.

UW-Whitewater (30-6, 17-3) defeated the Titans by scores of 23-6 in seven innings during the opener and 11-8 in the nightcap. The Warhawks swept the four-game series after defeating Titans, 9-3 and 7-1, on Friday (May 5) in Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh (22-18, 11-9 WIAC) will be the fourth seed for next week's four-team WIAC Championship, which will be hosted by top-seeded UW-Whitewater. The Titans open the WIAC postseason against UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m. on Friday (May 12).

Rounding out the field for league's double-elimination tournament are second-seeded UW-La Crosse (25-15, 11-9 WIAC) and third-seeded UW-Stevens Point (19-17, 11-9). Tiebreakers determined the seeding of the final three teams.

In Saturday's first contest, UW-Whitewater collected six home runs and six doubles on the way to invoking the 10-run rule.

The Warhawks, ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, scored six runs in the top of the first inning and held an 11-1 lead after two frames.

UW-Whitewater's Cal Aldridge had two home runs, four runs scored and five runs batted in while Daytona Bryden counted four hits with four runs scored, a pair of doubles and a home run.

Brett Krause added four hits for the Warhawks, who also received four RBIs apiece from Steve Chamberlain and Jordan Kuczynski. Chamberlain, Kuczynski and Will Helbing hit home runs while Kuczynski smacked two doubles.

UW-Whitewater outhit the Titans, 22-12, as Warhawks starting pitcher Westin Wuethrich (5-1) allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 5.1 innings to pick up the win. He recorded six strikeouts and issued one walk.

Chamberlain launched a three-run home run and a two-run shot by Kuczynski gave the Warhawks a 6-0 advantage in the top of the first inning.

UW-Oshkosh scored on two-out double by Andy Brahier in the home half of the first inning, but UW-Whitewater tacked on five more runs in the top of the second, which included a three-run home run from Aldridge.

The Warhawks held a 23-2 lead before UW-Oshkosh scored four runs on four hits in the sixth inning, which included a three-run double by Tyler Kozlowski.

UW-Oshkosh's Jack Paulson, Zack Radde and Sam Schwenn had two hits each.

UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jesse Sustachek (6-3) was charged with the loss after yielding 11 runs on nine hits and two walks in 1.2 innings.

In Saturday's second game, UW-Oshkosh owned an 8-5 advantage after seven innings, but the Warhawks scored once in the eighth frame and took its only lead of the game with a five-run ninth inning.

UW-Whitewater's decisive ninth inning included a run-scoring double by Brett Krause and a run-scoring single by Aldridge that tied the score at 8 with one out. Kevin White then followed with a three-run home run that provided the game's final score.

UW-Oshkosh claimed its first lead of the four-game series with three runs in the first inning. Johnny Eagan and Brahier drove in runs during the inning before Brahier scored on a two-out wild pitch for a 3-0 advantage.

The Titans added a run in the third inning on a groundout from Taylor Grimm, but the Warhawks answered with four runs in the fourth frame to tie the score at 4 as Mike Aiello cracked a two-out, three-run double and later scored on a double by Jeff Szubert.

UW-Oshkosh regained a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning. Schwenn scored one run with a double before crossing the plate following a throwing error on the play by the Warhawks' catcher.

A solo home run by White cut UW-Whitewater's deficit to 6-5 in the sixth inning before the Titans responded with a two-run double from Grimm during the bottom half of the frame.

The Warhawks then pulled within 8-6 on an eighth-inning, run-scoring groundout off the bat of Szubert.

White hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs to pace the Warhawks.

The Titans, who outhit the Warhawks, 15-13, received three hits each from Brahier, Grimm and Schwenn.

UW-Whitewater relief pitcher James Georgakas (1-0) picked up the win after tossing two hitless innings and notching a pair of strikeouts.

Mike Nompleggi earned his fifth save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Lucas Gregory (0-3) suffered the loss after ceding four runs (two earned) in 3.1 innings.

Sunday's games marked the final home contests in the UW-Oshkosh careers of Eagan, Kozlowski and Neal Ori.