Titans Record A Pair Of Lopsided Wins During Season Debut
The UW-Oshkosh baseball team recorded 25 hits and scored runs in 11 of its 12 offensive innings on the way to opening the season with a pair of lopsided nonconference victories over Finlandia University (Mich.) on Saturday (March 20) in Ashwaubenon.
UW-Oshkosh won the season opener, 17-3, as each position starter either scored or drove in a run before three Titan pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout during a 15-0 rout in the nightcap. Both games were halted in the seventh inning due to the 10-run rule.
Jarrett Scheelk, a transfer from Bradley University (Ill.), was the winning pitcher and hit a home run during the second contest, finishing his first two games as a Titan 5-for-7 at the plate with a double, five runs scored, five runs batted in and two stolen bases.
Twelve Titans collected hits Saturday, including Matt Scherrman with four, and Eric Modaff and Hunter Staniske with three apiece. Modaff homered in the first game and had three stolen bases Saturday. Sean Cummins added a pair of hits, including a home run during the opener.
Scherrman, who went a combined 4-for-5 in the two games, was one of five Titans with three RBIs Saturday, joining Cummins, Modaff, Staniske and Kameron Dransfeldt. Dransfeldt and Staniske also had two stolen bases.
UW-Oshkosh, which produced a .403 batting average on the day, stole eight bases in the first game and swiped five more during the nightcap. The Titans also walked 12 times and pounded out eight extra-base hits to finish the doubleheader with a .506 on-base percentage and a .645 slugging percentage. The eight steals were two shy of the program's game record of 10 established in 1991.
In the season opener, the Titans scored during each of their six offensive innings, tallying 10 runs in the fifth frame, three more in third and one during the first, second, fourth and sixth.
Modaff homered over the left field wall to begin the bottom of the first inning. Cummins later blasted a three-run homer to center field to extend the Titans' advantage to 9-3 during a fifth frame in which UW-Oshkosh sent 14 batters to the plate. The Titans had four hits during their 10-run, fifth-inning onslaught that included five Finlandia University errors, a hit batter, a balk, three walks and five stolen bases.
Scherrman went 3-for-3 with three RBIs to pace the Titans, who also received two hits each from Modaff, Scheelk and Staniske. Cummins and Staniske also drove in three runs during the opener.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Will Michalski earned the win, yielding three runs on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts in five innings.
Titans relief pitcher Trevor Niedzwiecki struck out five and did not issue a walk while holding the Lions scoreless on one hit across the final two innings.
Jordan D'Angelo and Sawyer Murrell both had two hits for Finlandia University, which finished the first game with six errors.
Lions starting pitcher Tyler Hale was charged with the loss, ceding nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and two walks with one strikeout in four innings.
During the nightcap Scheelk gave up just one hit and one walk on the mound while striking out nine to earn the win. He also went 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run, five RBIs and a stolen base.
The Titans backed up Scheelk's pitching gem with three runs in the first inning, one in the second, five in the third, four in the fifth and two in the sixth. The bottom of the fourth inning during the second contest was the Titans' lone scoreless frame of the day despite advancing a runner to third base with one out.
Scheelk plated a pair of runs with a single in the first inning, two more on a home run to left field during the third frame and notched his fifth RBI with an infield single in the fifth that upped the Titans' lead to 11-0.
Modaff, Griffith Lukes and Will Wendlick all drove in two runs for UW-Oshkosh during the nightcap as 10 different Titans had at least one hit and another four Titans reached via bases on balls.
Alex Larson and Logan King both pitched a hitless inning in relief of Scheelk to preserve the UW-Oshkosh shutout. Larson struck out the side during the sixth inning before King had one strikeout in the seventh.
Lions leadoff hitter Bobby Sains opened the game with a single to right field. D'Angelo later drew a walk with two outs in the second inning and Brayden Blain was hit by a pitch to open the third frame before Scheelk, Larson and King combined to retire the final 15 Finlandia University batters, including 10 on strikeouts.
UW-Oshkosh plays a nonconference doubleheader at UW-Whitewater on Tuesday (March 23). UW-Whitewater is ranked 18th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics