Titans Dealt A Pair Of Defeats By Pointers
The UW-Oshkosh baseball team had the go-ahead run on base during the ninth inning of the nightcap, but UW-Stevens Point held on to win and sweep and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday (May 7) in Stevens Point.
UW-Stevens Point (25-8, 20-4 WIAC) defeated the Titans by scores of 10-5 in the opener and 4-2 during the second contest. The Pointers remain alone in second in the conference standings while UW-Oshkosh (18-13, 15-9 WIAC) fell one spot to fourth with four league games left.
UW-Oshkosh's Griffith Lukes hit a home run in the first game, and Matt Scherrmann homered for the Titans during the nightcap. The home runs were Scherrman's sixth of the season and Lukes' third.
UW-Stevens Point, which improved to 18-3 at home this season, launched four home runs of its own – all in the opener – during the meeting of two of the top power hitting teams in the NCAA Division III. UW-Oshkosh was ranked fifth in the country with 1.45 home runs per game and paced the conference with 42 homers entering the day. The Pointers now have 45 homers on the year, one more than UW-Oshkosh.
In Friday's first game, UW-Stevens Point scored single runs during each of the first four innings and cruised after increasing its lead to 9-2 after six frames.
UW-Stevens Point's Tommy Duddleston went 3-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and two runs batted in.
Payton Nelson, who had four RBIs, Matt Baumann and Kyle Finger each added home runs for the Pointers.
Lukes and Jake Surane both accounted for two of the Titans' nine hits. Lukes drove in two runs while Surane and Hunter Staniske both chipped in RBIs. Lukes' two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning cut the UW-Oshkosh deficit to 4-2.
Pointers starting pitcher Caleb Krommenakker (4-1) picked up the win, allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts across six innings.
UW-Stevens Point relief pitcher Sidney Ferry earned the first of his two saves of the day by tossing 1.2 hitless innings with one strikeout.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Alex Larson (2-2) was charged with the loss, surrendering seven runs in 5.2 innings. Larson walked one and struck out four.
During the nightcap UW-Stevens Point erased its only deficit of the afternoon by scoring twice in the home half of the first inning. UW-Oshkosh knotted the score at 2 in the fourth inning on Scherrman's solo home run to center field, but the Pointers scored twice, including the decisive run on a balk, during the sixth frame and held off a late UW-Oshkosh rally.
UW-Oshkosh brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with two outs during the ninth frame. However, Ferry got a flyout to end the game and earn his WIAC-leading seventh save of the season.
Pointers starting pitcher JD Schultz (3-0) was credited with the win, holding the Titans to two runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Harry Orth (2-2) suffered the loss, yielding four runs in six innings.
Staniske gave UW-Oshkosh a 1-0 advantage with an RBI groundout in the top of the first inning.
Despite the two setbacks Friday, UW-Oshkosh has won eight of the past 12 matchups with UW-Stevens Point.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point wrap up their six-game regular season series with a nonconference doubleheader Saturday (May 8) at Tiedemann Field.