Titans, Pioneers Swap High-Scoring Victories
Matt Scherrman homered in both games and drove in seven runs on the day as the UW-Oshkosh baseball team exchanged a pair of high-scoring wins at UW-Platteville to conclude the regular season Monday (May 9).
UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Platteville, 15-12, during the nightcap after losing, 19-9 in seven innings, in the first game of the day. The Titans swept a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against UW-Platteville on April 24.
Monday's doubleheader featured a combined 61 hits, including 10 home runs, and 28 walks between the squads. The second contest, which lasted four minutes shy of four hours, was called final after eight innings due to darkness.
UW-Oshkosh secured the fourth seed at the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) after finishing the regular season with a 22-17 overall record and 16-12 mark in league play. The Titans will face nationally ranked and tournament host UW-Whitewater during the WIAC postseason first round Thursday (May 12).
Second-seeded UW-Stevens Point (31-7, 22-6 WIAC) and third-seeded UW-La Crosse (23-16, 16-12) will also vie for the WIAC Tournament title Thursday through Saturday (May 12-14). UW-La Crosse clinched the third seed by virtue of winning three of four games over UW-Oshkosh during the regular season. UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point are ranked seventh and 16th, respectively, in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com.
The winner of the double-elimination conference tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the Division III Championship.
UW-Platteville (13-22, 11-17 WIAC) concluded its 2022 season Monday.
During the regular season finale, UW-Oshkosh scored in each of the final seven innings and never trailed after Connor Giusti produced a two-run double for a 2-0 advantage in the top of the second frame. The Titans went on to extend their advantage to 6-0 in the third inning.
Giusti finished the contest 3-for-3 with a double, two walks and four runs batted in to lead the Titans.
UW-Oshkosh's Sean Cummins added three hits of his own and drove in three runs while walking twice and stealing two bases.
Scherrman and Zach Taylor launched home runs. Nicholas Shiu and Ethan Schreier both contributed two of the Titans' five stolen bases.
The home runs were Taylor's team-leading eighth of the year and Scherrman's seventh. Scherrman's two-run shot upped UW-Oshkosh's lead to 8-4 during the fourth inning. Taylor's solo blast in the seventh frame gave the Titans a 13-11 advantage.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Nick Loizzi (1-0), making his third appearance of the season, earned his first collegiate victory after tossing the fifth and sixth innings.
Sterling McKinley, who made his collegiate debut on the mound, was credited with a save for the Titans after holding the Pioneers to one run over the last 1.2 innings.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher Parker Heidorf (1-2) was tagged with the loss, yielding six runs (three earned) across the first three innings.
Jonathan Kelso, the 2021 WIAC Position Player of the Year, hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs for the Pioneers, who also received homers from Ross Krist and Zach McCoy. Kelso's three-run homer in the home half of the sixth inning pulled UW-Platteville within a run at 12-11.
In Monday's first game, UW-Platteville overcame a pair of deficits and scored the final 12 runs of the contest to pull out the win.
UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 4-0 lead during the fourth inning and reclaimed a 9-7 advantage on a Scherrman grand slam in the top of the sixth. However, UW-Platteville stormed back with eight runs in the home half of the sixth inning and invoked the 10-run rule with a four-run seventh frame.
Scherrman went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in for UW-Oshkosh, which also received two RBIs from Eric Modaff and a pair of hits from both Jake Surane and Chase Marsh. Shiu hit a solo home run – his third longball of the year – to open the scoring in the top of the second inning.
UW-Platteville outhit the Titans, 21-11, as Brady Katterhagen was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two runs batted in for the Pioneers. UW-Platteville's Wyatt Molitor, Austin Pullara and Mitchell McLaughlin chipped in three hits apiece. McLaughlin scored four times while Molitor drove in four runs.
Jake Schneider picked up the win in relief for the Pioneers, pitching 1.2 hitless and scoreless innings over the sixth and seventh frames to improve his record to 1-1 this season.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Aaron Huibregtse (0-2) suffered the loss.
UW-Oshkosh will be seeking its second WIAC Tournament title this weekend and first since the inaugural event in 1998.