Atwood Leads Titans' Four All-WIAC Baseball Selections
Senior pitcher Chris Atwood was named to the First Team to headline UW-Oshkosh's four selections to the 2019 All-WIAC Baseball Team.
Atwood, who collected all-conference recognition for the first time, led the Titans with a 6-4 record, a 3.26 earned run average, five complete games, two shutouts, 11 pitching starts and a .251 opponent batting average on the year. He finished second on the team with 66 strikeouts and 77.2 innings pitched.
UW-Oshkosh senior outfielders Alex Koch and Zack Radde, and sophomore second baseman Hunter Staniske each received All-WIAC Honorable Mention recognition. Koch previously received First Team honors in 2018 and Honorable Mention laurels in 2017, while Radde earned Honorable Mention accolades for the second straight year. Staniske garnered his first all-conference award.
The 22-member All-WIAC First Team was led by Player of the Year Cal Aldridge from UW-Whitewater and Pitcher of the Year Zach Pronschinske from UW-La Crosse. UW-Whitewater's John Vodenlich was named the league's Coach of the Year after guiding the Warhawks to the WIAC regular season and postseason titles.
Atwood, the WIAC leader in complete games, is tied for the conference lead in shutouts and pitching starts while ranking second in innings pitched, fourth in wins, seventh in strikeouts and eighth in earned run average. His 53.2 innings pitched, seven complete games and two shutouts during league play paced the WIAC.
Atwood's first conference start of the season resulted in the 10th no-hitter in program history as he needed just 88 pitches to retire 27 of the 29 batters he faced during an 8-0 victory over visiting Finlandia University (Mich.) on March 31 at Tiedemann Field. Atwood's no-hitter, which included a season-high 13 strikeouts, was the first by a Titan since 1995.
Atwood also tossed a six-hit shutout with nine strikeouts against UW-Stevens Point on April 10 in Oshkosh before recording complete-game conference wins against UW-Stout on April 19, UW-Stevens Point on April 24 and UW-Platteville on May 4. During his seven conference starts, Atwood registered 50 strikeouts and issued just four walks across 53.2 innings pitched.
Koch hit a team-leading .353 this season with 49 hits, 25 doubles, two home runs, 25 runs scored, 28 runs batted, 70 total bases and seven stolen bases. His doubles total ranks third in the WIAC.
Koch reached base safely in 29 of his 34 contests played on the year, compiling 17 multiple-hit games and driving in at least two runs on eight occasions. He had 10 runs batted in during the Titans' four-game series sweep over Finlandia University on March 30-31. He also produced three-hit efforts against conference rivals UW-Whitewater on April 7 and UW-Platteville on May 4.
Radde hit .327 on the year with 49 hits, 30 runs scored, nine doubles, five triples, four home runs, 24 runs batted in, seven stolen bases, and a team-leading 80 total bases and a .533 slugging percentage. During the 24-game conference schedule, Radde led the WIAC with five triples and paced the Titans with a .360 batting average, 24 runs scored, four home runs, 60 total bases, a .453 on-base percentage and a .674 slugging percentage.
Radde has 14 multiple-hit performances this season, including four-hit games against Finlandia University on March 30 and UW-La Crosse on April 14. He also went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs and five runs batted in against UW-Platteville on May 4.
Staniske batted .333 this season with a team-high 50 hits and 29 runs batted in to go along with 31 runs scored, 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs and six stolen bases.
Staniske produced multiple hits 16 times this season, including a 4-for-4 performance with four runs scored and three runs batted in against Finlandia University on March 30. He also went 3-for-3 against UW-Stevens Point on April 10 and 3-for-4 against UW-Stout on April 19 after collecting three hits with a home run against Milwaukee School of Engineering on March 26.
UW-Oshkosh concluded the season with an 18-21 record. The Titans, who won nine consecutive games from March 17-31, finished fifth in the WIAC standings after compiling an 11-13 mark in league play.