Titans Rout Warhawks In WIAC Tournament Opener
UW-Oshkosh launched four home runs en route to trouncing nationally ranked UW-Whitewater, 17-4 in seven innings, during the opening round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament (presented by Culver's) on Thursday (May 12) in Whitewater.
UW-Oshkosh (23-17) jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the third inning on the way to snapping three-time defending WIAC Tournament champion UW-Whitewater's winning streaks of 18 this season and 10 in a row at home. Eric Modaff, Matt Scherrman, Nicholas Shiu and Zach Taylor each homered for the Titans.
The Titans, seeded fourth in the league postseason, advance to play in the winner's bracket final of the WIAC Tournament on Friday (May 13) against second-seeded and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point in Whitewater. UW-Stevens Point (32-7) won its WIAC Tournament opener, 18-7 in eight innings, over third-seeded UW-La Crosse (24-17) on Thursday. The Pointers are ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com.
UW-La Crosse then eliminated fifth-ranked UW-Whitewater (33-8) from the tournament with a 14-12 win on Thursday. The Warhawks had won each of the past three conference postseason titles since 2017.
The winner of the four-team, double-elimination WIAC Tournament clinches the league's automatic berth into the 60-team Division III Championship that begins with regionals May 19-22. The WIAC Tournament continues Friday in Whitewater with the winner's bracket final, an elimination contest and the first of two possible championship games.
UW-Oshkosh battered one of the top pitching staffs in the country, outhitting the Warhawks, 18-11, and collecting five doubles to go along with four home runs. The Warhawks went into the tournament ranked second in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio, fifth nationally in the ratio of walks and hits per inning pitched, sixth in earned run average, seventh in strikeouts and walks allowed per nine innings, and eighth in hits allowed per nine innings.
The Titans erupted for 11 runs (four earned) during the first two innings against UW-Whitewater starting pitcher Westin Muir, who went into the day with a team-leading 2.08 earned run average and ranked seventh in the nation with nine wins.
Scherrman opened the scoring with a two-run double in the top of the first inning that also featured a two-run homer from Shiu and a run-scoring single by Connor Giusti for a 5-0 UW-Oshkosh lead.
UW-Oshkosh then put the game away with six more runs in the second inning as Scherrman hit a solo home run and Chase Marsh delivered a run-scoring single before Modaff crushed a grand slam for an 11-0 advantage.
The Titans later extended their lead to 12-0 on Taylor's solo home run during the third inning and tacked on four insurance runs in the fourth frame and one more during the sixth.
UW-Oshkosh's fourth inning was highlighted by run-scoring hits from Shiu and Jake Surane along with a dropped flyball in center field off the bat of Scherrman that allowed two runs to score. Scherrman capped the scoring with a double that plated Surane in the top of the sixth inning. Scherrman's RBI in the sixth frame was the 100th of his career.
Scherrman went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and a season-high six runs batted in. Scherrman, who hit his eighth home run of the year, now paces the Titans with 44 runs scored, 19 doubles and 54 RBIs.
Ethan Schreier doubled among his three hits and scored twice for UW-Oshkosh, which also received three hits from Modaff and two hits each by Marsh, Shiu and Surane. Modaff and Shiu drove in four and three runs, respectively, while Surane doubled twice and scored thrice.
The UW-Oshkosh home runs were Taylor's team-leading ninth of the season, Shiu's fourth and Modaff's second.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Connor Brinkman went the distance to earn the victory, improving his season record to 7-3 after scattering 11 hits and striking out five without issuing a walk.
Muir (9-2), who had not lost a decision since March 28, yielded 10 hits and one walk with four strikeouts while surrendering 11 runs (four earned) in 1.2 innings.
David Rubin went 3-for-3 to lead UW-Whitewater. Zach Campbell drove in three runs and added two hits for the Warhawks, including a two-run homer that cut their deficit to 16-4 during the sixth inning.
UW-Oshkosh not only ended UW-Whitewater's lengthy winning streaks this season but also snapped its string of seven consecutive losses to the Warhawks in the WIAC Tournament. The Warhawks had not lost a game since April 11 and had not suffered a home setback since a 9-0 decision against UW-Oshkosh on April 4.
The Titans, whose most recent prior victory over UW-Whitewater in the conference tournament was in 2011, defeated the Warhawks via the 10-run rule for the first time since a 22-6, seven-inning win April 28, 2010. UW-Whitewater had also not lost a conference tournament game shortened by the 10-run rule since 2013.
UW-Whitewater allowed its most runs since a 21-3 setback against Concordia University Wisconsin on April 11, 2017.
UW-Oshkosh's 17 runs tied for the third most in WIAC Tournament history. UW-Whitewater holds the record with 22 runs in one game during the 2011 tournament. UW-Stevens Point's 18 runs on the strength of seven home runs in Thursday's opening game established the second most in the league postseason.
Photo by Dane Sheehan, UW-Whitewater