Titan Pitchers Strike Out 33 Batters In Sweep Of Raiders
Harry Orth had 13 strikeouts in the opener, Connor Brinkman struck out 16 during the nightcap and the UW-Oshkosh baseball team swept a doubleheader against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Sunday (March 13) in Glendale.
UW-Oshkosh (4-4) won the first game, 8-4, and the nightcap, 5-4. The Titans, who have won each of their 11 all-time meetings with Milwaukee School of Engineering, collected 20 hits and 12 stolen bases Sunday while a quartet of UW-Oshkosh pitchers recorded a total of 33 strikeouts across 18 innings.
In the first game of the day, UW-Oshkosh stole eight bases and capitalized on three Milwaukee School of Engineering errors that led to three unearned runs.
Orth's career-high 13 strikeouts during the first contest were the most by a Titan since Chris Atwood also recorded 13 punchouts against Finlandia University (Mich.) on March 31, 2019. Orth struck out three batters in the first inning, two in the third frame, three more in the fourth, two in both the fifth and sixth, and one in the seventh.
Orth (1-1) did not allow a hit until a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth inning and kept his shutout bid intact through six frames. Orth, whose previous career best was nine strikeouts, exited the game after allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk in 6.2 innings pitched.
With UW-Oshkosh clinging to a 5-4 lead and a Raider at third base with two outs in the home half of the seventh inning, Cameron Mulvihill notched a strikeout to thwart the threat. Mulvihill went on to pitch scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn his first career save, yielding just one hit and a walk while striking out two.
The Titans scored twice in the top of the first inning and maintained the lead the rest of the way as a Matt Scherrman sacrifice fly and a Zach Taylor run-scoring single provided a 2-0 lead.
UW-Oshkosh later upped its advantage to 5-0 following single runs during the second, fourth and seventh frames. Sean Cummins plated Ethan Schreier on a groundout in the second inning, Jake Andersen came around to score on a Raiders error during the fourth frame and Scherrman drove in his second run of the contest with a single to bring home Jake Surane for a 5-0 cushion in the seventh.
Milwaukee School of Engineering (3-7) scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on four hits and the Titans' lone error of the game. Brandon Beauchamp cut the Raiders deficit to 5-4 on a two-out, two-run triple.
UW-Oshkosh then tacked on three insurance runs over the final innings. Nicholas Shiu and Andrew Deardurff pulled off a double-steal of second base and home plate for a 6-4 lead. The Titans added a run in the eighth inning and another in the ninth.
Taylor went 3-for-5 at the plate to pace the Titans. Surane had three stolen bases while Cummins added two of UW-Oshkosh's eight steals.
Milwaukee School of Engineering starting pitcher Tyler Gronert (2-1) suffered his first loss of the year, surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in three innings.
During the nightcap Brinkman became the first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pitcher to register 16 strikeouts since former Titan and current member of the San Diego Padres organization Luke Westphal accomplished the feat at UW-Stout on April 22, 2011.
Brinkman (2-0), making his second collegiate start, struck out the first six batters he faced on the way to becoming the fourth UW-Oshkosh pitcher to register 16 strikeouts in a game. Former Titan Jack Taschner, who had a six-year Major League Baseball career, holds the school record with 18 strikeouts against Illinois Wesleyan University on March 15, 1999. The only other Titan to strike out at least 16 batters was 12-year Major Leaguer Jarrod Washburn, who had 17 punchouts against UW-Whitewater in 1995 and 16 strikeouts versus Concordia College (Minn.) during the 1995 NCAA Division III regionals.
After striking out the side in the first two innings Sunday, Brinkman proceeded to add two more strikeouts during each of the third, fourth and fifth frames; one in both the sixth and seventh; and two during the eighth. Brinkman's career-high 16 strikeouts were three shy of tying the WIAC record established by UW-Whitewater's Greg Reinhard – a five-year professional baseball player – against UW-Stout on April 17, 2005.
Brinkman completed eight innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk.
LJ Waco preserved the UW-Oshkosh victory after yielding one run on one hit and a walk with two strikeouts in the ninth inning. Waco, who earned his first career save, stranded the potential tying run on third base by inducing a game-ending popup.
The Titans staked Brinkman to leads of 2-0 and 4-2 following Scherrman's two-run triple in the top of the third inning, Shiu's RBI single during the fourth frame and a wild pitch that allowed Surane to cross the plate in the fifth.
Milwaukee School of Engineering scored a pair of unearned runs to knot the score at 2 after a fielding error in the outfield during the home half of the third inning. The Raiders later cut their deficit to 4-3 in the fifth inning, but the Titans got what turned out to be the winning run on Shiu's two-out triple that drove home pinch-runner Joey Petryniec in the eighth frame.
Waco ceded a walk and a double to consecutive Raiders with one out in the ninth inning. Waco struck out the next batter with a pair of runners in scoring position. However, a wild pitch plated one and moved the tying run 90 feet from the plate when Waco got a flyout to Scherrman at shortstop to end the game.
Shiu singled, doubled, tripled and drove in a pair of runs en route to going 3-for-4 at the plate for the Titans, who also received two of their 11 hits from both Scherrman and Surane. Surane scored twice and had two of UW-Oshkosh's four stolen bases during the nightcap.
Josh Beier went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Milwaukee School of Engineering starting pitcher Chris Barnes (0-2) was charged with the loss after surrendering three runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in four innings.
UW-Oshkosh returns for another doubleheader at Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday (March 19).
Photo by Jennifer Zuberbier