Titans' Win Streak At 10 Games Following Sweep Of Pioneers
Connor Giusti launched a go-ahead grand slam in the opener as the UW-Oshkosh baseball team hit five home runs on the way to winning a pair of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against UW-Platteville on Saturday (May 1) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Oshkosh (17-10, 14-6 WIAC) won Saturday's first game, 14-4, before completing the four-game regular season sweep over UW-Platteville by a 12-2 score in the nightcap. Both contests were halted in the seventh inning by virtue of the 10-run rule.
The Titans, who extended their winning streak to 10 games, remain alone in third in the league standings while UW-Platteville (14-16, 8-12 WIAC) stayed tied for fifth. UW-Oshkosh, which has won 15 of the past 18 meetings with the Pioneers, claimed both ends of the doubleheader via the run rule for the second time this season and first since downing Finlandia University (Mich.) twice in seven innings to open the season March 20.
Giusti, Jarrett Scheelk and Matt Scherrman all homered for the Titans during the first game. Eric Modaff and Hunter Staniske then added home runs in the second contest to increase UW-Oshkosh's WIAC-leading total to 40 longballs on the year. The home runs were Scheelk's WIAC-best 12th of the season, Staniske's seventh, Modaff's fifth, Scherrman's fourth and Giusti's third.
UW-Oshkosh outhit UW-Platteville, 27-13, on the day. Modaff and Ethan Schreier both collected five hits Saturday for the Titans while Scheelk and Scherrman contributed four apiece, and Staniske and Griffith Lukes had three.
In Saturday's opener UW-Oshkosh turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead on Giusti's towering home run down the left field line that plated Scherrman, Scheelk and Schreier.
Scheelk and Scherrman later blasted back-to-back home runs that extended the UW-Oshkosh cushion to 14-3 during the sixth inning. Scheelk's home run was a two-run shot to left field. Scherrman then followed with a deep fly to left of his own seconds later.
Giusti, who also produced a two-run single in the fifth inning that upped the Titan lead to 9-2, finished with a career-high six runs batted in.
Scheelk went 3-for-3, scored three runs drove in three and stole a base; Schreier had three hits of his own and scored three times; and Scherrman chipped in a pair of hits, three runs, two RBIs and one stolen base.
UW-Oshkosh's Alex Larson (2-1) won his second straight start on the mound, limiting the Pioneers to four runs (three earned), scattering seven hits and four walks, while striking out six across the first six innings.
Jonathan Kelso, Ross Krist and Wyatt Molitor each produced two of UW-Platteville's eight hits. Kelso homered to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead in the first frame. Molitor had a pair of RBI doubles, including a fourth-inning two-bagger that provided a 2-1 advantage.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher Sam Hernandez (3-4) suffered the loss, allowing nine runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
During the nightcap the Titans once again overcame an early lead before taking control in the middle innings.
Trailing 2-1 after one inning, UW-Oshkosh knotted the score during the third frame on a Staniske double that brought home Modaff. The Titans claimed the lead for good following Lukes' double that plated Scherrmann in the fourth inning.
The Titans went on to score 12 unanswered runs in all, beginning with a Staniske solo home run in the home half of the first inning that pulled UW-Oshkosh within 2-1. The Titans tacked on a pair of runs during the fifth frame courtesy of a Modaff solo home run and an RBI double by Scherrman before walking off with the victory behind a seven-run outburst in the seventh inning.
Staniske run-scoring single increased the lead to 6-2 in the fateful seventh inning. Two batters later Scherrman drilled a three-run double for a 9-2 advantage, and Modaff, who sparked the seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single, invoked the 10-run rule with a two-out, three-run triple as UW-Oshkosh sent 10 batters to the plate during the frame.
Modaff went 4-for-5 with a triple, home run, three runs scored, four RBIs and a stolen base.
Staniske, who had his 28-game hitting streak snapped during Saturday's opener, was 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three runs batted in. Staniske's hitting streak, tied for fifth longest in WIAC history, concluded one game shy of tying the program record of 29 set by Jeff Zappa in 1996.
UW-Oshkosh pounded out 14 hits during the nightcap, including two each from Lukes, Scherrman and Schreier. Scherrman also drove in four runs.
Titans starting pitcher Will Michalski (3-2) earned the win, surrendering just two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out three.
UW-Oshkosh's Harry Orth picked up his second save of the year after pitching a perfect seventh inning with one strikeout.
The Titans have now produced at least 10 hits on 16 occasions this season and scored in double figures 13 times on the year. UW-Oshkosh defeated the Pioneers by scores of 11-3 and 11-7 on Wednesday (April 28) in Platteville.
Mitchell McLaughlin had a two-run double in the first inning to account for the Pioneer runs.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher Shane Nolan (2-3) was charged with the loss, ceding four runs on six hits and a pair of walks with six strikeouts in four innings.
UW-Oshkosh remains at home to host UW-Stevens Point for a WIAC doubleheader Tuesday (May 4) at Tiedemann Field.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics