Titans Begin WIAC Championship Play Against Warhawks
UW-Oshkosh commences the WIAC Baseball Championship against nationally ranked UW-Whitewater on Friday (May 12). Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at UW-Whitewater's Prucha Field.
UW-Oshkosh (22-18) is seeded fourth at the four-team league tournament while UW-Whitewater (32-6) earned the top seed after claiming its 17th WIAC regular season title.
Friday's WIAC Championship opener, scheduled for 10 a.m., features second-seeded UW-La Crosse (25-15) opposing third-seeded UW-Stevens Point (19-17).
Losers of the first two contests will meet in an elimination game at 4 p.m. on Friday while opening-round winners will play at 7 p.m. for the right to compete for the tournament title. The winner of the WIAC Championship receives the league's automatic berth to the 56-team NCAA Division III Championship that begins next week.
UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point each finished their conference schedule with 11-9 records. The league's tiebreaking procedures dictated the seeding among the three teams. UW-Whitewater produced a 17-3 record to secure first place by six games.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking to snap a six-game losing streak to UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks swept a four-game series over the Titans last weekend (May 5-6) in Oshkosh.
UW-Whitewater has won 88 of its last 111 home games and enters this year's league tournament on an eight-game winning streak in which the Warhawks have averaged 11.1 runs per contest. UW-Whitewater is currently ranked third in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com.
The UW-Oshkosh offense paces the conference with 177 walks and 13 triples while UW-Whitewater is the league leader in several statistical categories, including batting average (.322), runs scored (303), hits (417), home runs (42), slugging percentage (.482) and on-base percentage (.395). The Warhawks' home run total is more than the combined total for UW-Oshkosh (13 home runs), UW-Stevens Point (12) and UW-La Crosse (11).
The Titans are led offensively by senior center fielder Johnny Eagan, junior first baseman Andy Brahier, junior shortstop Jack Paulson and senior third baseman Tyler Kozlowski.
Eagan has a WIAC-leading .377 batting average, 57 hits and 40 runs scored. He also ranks second in the league in total bases (82) and on-base percentage (.457), third in walks (23) and triples (3), fourth in slugging percentage (.543), and sixth in doubles (10) and runs batted in (30).
Brahier is hitting .318, Paulson .314 and Kozlowski .313. Brahier has four home runs and 30 runs batted in. Paulson has scored 29 runs, stolen a team-leading 14 bases, and leads the WIAC with 32 walks and a .461 on-base percentage. Kozlowski, who leads the league with 122 assists in the field, has added 27 runs scored and a team-high 12 doubles and 33 RBIs at the plate.
Brahier lists sixth in the conference in runs batted in, and 10th in batting average and slugging percentage (.470). Paulson ranks third in the league in stolen bases and 10th in hits (44). Kozlowski is third in the WIAC in doubles, fourth in runs batted in and walks (22), seventh in hits (46), eighth in total bases (66) and on-base percentage (.420)
The UW-Oshkosh pitching staff is spearheaded by sophomore Colan Treml and junior Jesse Sustachek.
Treml has compiled a 5-2 record with a 2.43 earned run average and 51 strikeouts in 66.2 innings pitched. He ranks third in the WIAC in innings pitched, fourth in earned run average and strikeouts, and fifth in wins and opponent batting average (.238).
Sustachek sports a 6-3 record with a 3.97 ERA in 59 innings. He lists fourth in the league in wins, fifth in innings pitched, sixth in opponent batting average (.248) and 10th in earned run average.
As a team, UW-Oshkosh has a .289 batting average and a 3.87 earned run average.
UW-Whitewater features eight regular starters hitting better than .300, including junior outfielder Daytona Bryden at .386, junior outfielder Brett Krause at .377 and senior second baseman Steve Chamberlain at .361.
Bryden has a team-leading .737 slugging percentage and .493 on-base percentage while Krause paces the squad with 38 runs scored. Chamberlain has belted a team-high seven home runs and driven in a WIAC-best 35 runs.
The Warhawk pitching staff, which boasts a 3.38 earned run average is headlined by starters Heath Renz, Austin Jones and Westin Wuethrich, and reliever Mike Nompleggi.
Renz has a 7-0 record with a 1.58 earned run average in 57 innings pitched while Jones is 7-2 with a 1.96 ERA in 69 innings and Wuethrich is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 53.2 innings.
Renz ranks second in the WIAC in earned run average while Jones is third and Wuethrich is seventh. Jones leads the conference by limiting opponents to a .203 batting average while Renz and Jones are tied for the league lead in wins.
Nompleggi sports a 4-0 record with a 0.60 earned run average and six saves in 30 innings pitched across a WIAC-high 19 pitching appearances.
UW-La Crosse has a .270 batting average and a WIAC-leading 3.21 earned run average.
Leading the Eagles offensively are sophomore shortstop Nate Heili and sophomore first baseman Brady Stolzman. Heili has a team-best .349 batting average, 17 stolen bases and a .450 on-base percentage while Stolzman is hitting .310 with a team-leading nine doubles and 23 runs batted in.
UW-La Crosse's pitching staff is headlined by senior starter Caleb Boushley, the reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year, and sophomore reliever Caleb Willems.
Boushley owns a 7-2 record with a 1.58 earned run average and 84 strikeouts in 80 innings pitched. He leads the conference in wins, earned run average, strikeouts and innings pitched.
Willems has a 1-4 record with a 1.99 earned run average and a conference-high seven saves in 31.2 innings pitched.
Leading the Pointers of UW-Stevens Point are sophomore catcher Kyle Mrozinski and junior starting pitcher Cole Erickson.
Mrozinski has a team-best .312 batting average with 11 doubles, four home runs, 33 runs batted in and a .528 slugging percentage. He ranks fourth in the conference in runs batted in and fifth in both doubles and slugging percentage.
Erickson has a 4-2 record with a 3.84 earned run average in 58.2 innings pitched. He lists fifth in the league in strikeouts (41), sixth in innings pitched and ninth in earned run average.
UW-Stevens Point has a .253 batting average and a 4.91 earned run average.
This year's WIAC Championship contenders have won each of the league's 19 league tournaments. UW-Stevens Point owns 11 conference tournament crowns while UW-Whitewater has four, UW-La Crosse three and UW-Oshkosh one.
UW-Oshkosh won the first conference tournament championship in 1998. UW-La Crosse claimed last year's tournament title by a 14-5 score over UW-Whitewater in the championship game.