Titans Win Second Game To Earn Split With Blue Devils
Jarrett Scheelk pitched eight strong innings and homered in the nightcap to lead UW-Oshkosh to a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader split against UW-Stout on Wednesday (April 14) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Oshkosh (7-9, 5-5 WIAC) downed the Blue Devils, 9-1, during the second contest after falling by a 5-0 score in Wednesday's opener.
The Titans outhit UW-Stout, 17-16, on the day as Hunter Staniske went a combined 4-for-8 at the plate and extended his hitting streak to 19 games. Staniske, whose hitting streak is tied for sixth longest in school history, reached base five times Wednesday, collecting four singles and a walk while scoring twice and driving in a run.
Scheelk had a pair of hits during the second contest, including his team-leading fifth home run that extended the Titan lead to 9-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Scheelk, who scored twice and added a stolen base, finished the nightcap with four runs batted in. His run-scoring single during the home half of the fifth frame provided UW-Oshkosh a 2-1 edge and turned out to be the game-winning RBI.
Scheelk was also outstanding on the mound, improving his season record to 3-1 after holding UW-Stout to just one run on four hits across the first eight frames. He walked two and struck out eight.
UW-Oshkosh's Trey Tennessen capped off the win with a scoreless ninth inning in relief of Scheelk.
Staniske was 3-for-4 for the Titans, who also received two hits each from Scheelk, Connor Giusti, Eric Modaff and Zach Taylor as part of a 13-hit effort. Modaff stole a pair of bases to run his team-best total to 10 this season.
Staniske extended his hitting streak to 19 games – tying former Titans Tyler Kamps and Jeff Zappa for sixth on the program's all-time list – with a first-inning single that plated Modaff for a 1-0 lead.
UW-Stout (9-7, 6-4 WIAC) knotted the score at 1 in the top of the fourth inning, but Scheelk gave UW-Oshkosh the lead for good with his single during the fifth frame that scored Griffith Lukes with the eventual game winning run. Giusti later drove in Staniske for a 3-1 Titan cushion after fifth innings.
UW-Oshkosh tacked on three insurance runs in the home half of the seventh inning as Scheelk scored on a wild pitch, Taylor lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Matt Scherrman and Jackson Broom's squeeze bunt allowed Giusti to score for a 6-1 advantage.
Scheelk, who retired the last five batters he faced on the mound, concluded the scoring with a three-run homer well beyond the left field wall in the eighth inning.
Joel Thimsen and Reese Vold both went 2-for-3 to pace the Blue Devils.
UW-Stout relief pitcher Brock Burg (1-2) was charged with the loss after yielding five runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings. Burg took over in the fifth inning for Blue Devils starting pitcher Jace Baumann, who limited the Titans to one run during the first four frames.
In the first game of the day, UW-Stout's James Palmer stymied the Titans, facing four batters over the minimum en route to pitching a four-hit shutout. Palmer, who set down 15 consecutive Titans between the fourth and ninth innings, allowed four singles and did not issue a walk while recording seven strikeouts.
Palmer and UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Grant Yakimisky were locked in a scoreless duel until the Blue Devils plated two runs on wild pitches during the seventh frame. UW-Stout tacked on three more runs in the ninth and notched its first shutout victory of the season.
Kasey Bass had three of the Blue Devils' 11 hits that included a two-run double from Alex Jinkins in the ninth inning.
Giusti, Scheelk, Staniske and Ethan Schreier accounted for the four Titan hits.
Yakimisky (0-1) was charged with the loss for UW-Oshkosh despite surrendering only two runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high nine.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its four-game regular season series against UW-Stout with a doubleheader Saturday (April 17) in Menomonie.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics