Titans Split Outcomes With Nationally Ranked Pointers
UW-Oshkosh kept its precarious hold on third place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball standings by splitting a home doubleheader with nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point on Saturday (May 7) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Oshkosh (21-16, 15-11 WIAC) defeated UW-Stevens Point, 10-7, during Saturday's first game before falling, 8-5, in the nightcap. The Titans, who are assured a spot at next week's four-team WIAC Tournament, need two wins at UW-Platteville (12-21, 10-16 WIAC) during the league's final regular season doubleheader Monday (May 9) to clinch the third seed.
UW-Stevens Point (33-6, 22-6 WIAC), ranked 16th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, will be the second seed at the WIAC Tournament that commences Thursday (May 12) at top-seeded and seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater (33-6, 25-3).
UW-Oshkosh outhit UW-Stevens Point, 29-24, Saturday after the Pointers took both games of a doubleheader from the Titans on Friday (May 6).
Matt Scherrman paced the Titans, going 6-for-10 with three doubles, a triple, three runs scored and three runs batted in Saturday while Jake Surane, Ethan Schreier, Connor Giusti and Chase Marsh each added four hits on the day for UW-Oshkosh. Giusti hit a home run during the nightcap.
In the first game of the day, UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and withstood a late UW-Stevens Point charge to pull out the win.
Giusti, Surane, Scherrman, Jake Andersen and Zach Taylor all drove in runs to stake the Titans to their 7-0 lead. Giusti and Taylor later drove in runs as UW-Oshkosh owned a 9-3 advantage after six innings.
UW-Stevens Point cut its deficit to 9-7 following a four-run top of the seventh inning that featured a three-run homer by Aaron Simmons. However, the Titans tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth frame and Aaron Huibregtse provided two innings of scoreless relief to preserve the victory.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Connor Brinkman improved his season record to 6-3 after allowing six runs across the first six innings. Huibregtse's save was his first of the year.
Marsh went 4-for-4 for the Titans, who also received three hits from Scherrman and two each from Surane, Taylor and Giusti. Giusti and Taylor had three and two RBIs, respectively. Scherrman had a pair of doubles and scored twice.
Simmons was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Pointers.
UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Caleb Krommenakker (5-2) suffered the loss, surrendering six runs (five earned) on seven hits in 1.1 innings.
The Pointers flipped the script during the second contest, racing out to a 3-0 advantage in the third inning and pulling away after UW-Oshkosh climbed within two runs in the home half of the sixth frame.
Simmons homered once again, launching a two-run shot to extend UW-Stevens Point's lead to 3-0 in the top of the third inning.
Guisti answered with a home run of his own – a solo blast to left field – to trim the Titans' deficit to 3-1. The home run was Giusti's second of the year and sixth career.
Trailing 5-1, UW-Oshkosh scored twice in the sixth inning on a Taylor RBI single and a Schreier sacrifice fly. The Titans then cut their deficit to 8-5 on Scherrman's two-run triple during the bottom of the seventh inning and had the tying run at the plate with two outs in the ninth, but a flyout ended the contest.
Lucas Luedtke accounted for three of UW-Stevens Point's 15 hits. Scherrman and Schreier both had three of UW-Oshkosh's 14 hits.
UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Marcus Jaworski (3-0) picked up the win, scattering eight hits and giving up three runs with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Austin Syvertson pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save for the Pointers.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Logan King (3-2) was charged with the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) across the first six innings. Trey Tennessen pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning out of the UW-Oshkosh bullpen.
The Titans, who won both ends of a doubleheader against UW-Platteville on April 24, are seeking to sweep the four-game regular season series with the Pioneers for the second straight year and fourth time since 2017.