Titans Win A Pair Of One-Run Games Over Pointers
Kade Bohlman and Sean Cummins both homered during the opener, Chris Atwood earned a complete-game victory in the nightcap, and the UW-Oshkosh baseball team won a pair of one-run decisions over UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday (April 24) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Oshkosh (18-16, 10-10 WIAC) overcame a five-run deficit to win the first game, 7-6, before scoring three unanswered runs to claim a 3-2 triumph during the second contest.
The Titans, who split a doubleheader with UW-Stevens Point on April 10 in Oshkosh, won the four-game series over the Pointers for the second straight season. UW-Oshkosh has won seven of its last eight meetings with UW-Stevens Point over the past two years.
UW-Stevens Point (14-16, 6-10 WIAC) falls one spot to seventh in the league standings while UW-Oshkosh remains alone in third.
In Wednesday's opener UW-Stevens Point raced out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, but Bohlman's first collegiate home run knotted the score at 5 during the fourth frame.
After Cummins gave the Titans their first lead of the day with a solo home run in the sixth inning, the Pointers rallied to tie the score at 6 during the top of the seventh frame. However, Jonathan Selchow drove home the game-winning run with a one-out single in the home half of the eighth inning.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Colan Treml (6-4) picked up the win after scattering 13 hits across eight innings. He walked one and struck out five on the way to becoming the WIAC's all-time leader with 297 career innings pitched. Treml passed UW-Stevens Point's Bill Verbrick, who pitched 294 innings between 1999-2002.
Treml also moved into seventh in league history with 239 strikeouts and ninth with 24 wins. He surpassed former UW-Stevens Point and current Detroit Tiger Jordan Zimmermann's total of 236 strikeouts from 2005-07.
Logan King was credited with his second save for the Titans after tossing a perfect ninth inning.
The Pointers outhit the Titans, 13-10, in the opener. Will Iloncaie and Aaron Simmons both collected three hits for UW-Stevens Point. Bohlman and Selchow had two hits apiece for UW-Oshkosh.
Simmons, who entered the day leading the conference in runs batted in and total bases, provided the Pointers a 4-0 lead with a two-run single in the second inning. An RBI single from Bradley Hansen extended their cushion to 5-0 during the third frame.
UW-Oshkosh began its comeback with a two-run double by Dylan Ott in the home half of the third inning. Bohlman then cracked a three-run homer during the fourth frame, and Cummins launched his team-leading fourth home run – a solo shot to left field – for a 6-5 Titan lead in the sixth inning.
UW-Stevens Point's Peyton Nelson plated the equalizing run on a double that scored Simmons in the top of the seventh inning, but the Titans responded with a run of their own in the eighth frame as Jensen Hinton led off with a triple and scored two batters later on Selchow's single to center field.
Pointers relief pitcher Mack Blashka (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
In the nightcap the Pointers once again took an early lead on Weston Nelson's RBI single in the second inning before Payton Nelson added a solo home run for a 2-0 UW-Stevens Point advantage in the sixth frame.
UW-Oshkosh answered with three runs on four hits during the home half of the sixth inning. Zack Radde and Ott hit back-to-back singles to open the decisive frame. Hunter Staniske laced a solid one-out single that was misplayed by Pointers left fielder Nolan Matson. Staniske's hit caromed off of Matson and rolled to the left field wall, allowing Radde and Ott to score the tying runs and Staniske to reach third base. Hinton then followed with a single up the middle that scored Staniske with what proved to be the game-winning run.
UW-Stevens Point hit a pair of two-out singles in the top of the seventh inning, but Matson, the Pointers' lead runner, was caught stealing after Atwood's pickoff throw resulted in a rundown for the third out.
Atwood pitched around a leadoff single in the eighth inning by inducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Payton Nelson, who went into the day leading the conference in hits. Atwood then retired the Pointers in order during the ninth inning en route to his fourth complete-game effort of the season.
Atwood improved his record to 5-4 on the year after giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and zero walks. He lowered his team-leading earned run average to 3.18 on the year.
Staniske went 2-for-3 with a stolen base to lead the Titans.
UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Matthew Morgan (1-1) suffered the loss, yielding three runs (two earned) on six hits in 5.1 innings. He walked one and struck out three.
UW-Oshkosh remains at home to host Ripon College for a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday (April 27) at Tiedemann Field.
Photo by Steve Frommell