Pointers Defeat Titans In WIAC Tournament Championship Game
UW-Oshkosh's exciting postseason run came to an end with a 10-0, eight-inning loss to nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point in the championship game of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament (presented by Culver's) on Saturday (May 15) in Whitewater.
Second-seeded UW-Stevens Point (34-7), ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and extended its lead to 7-0 after two frames on the way to winning its WIAC-record 12th league postseason title.
With the victory UW-Stevens Point earns the WIAC's automatic berth into the Division III Championship that begins with regionals May 19-22. The Pointers' most recent prior conference tournament crown was in 2015.
Fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh (24-19) was seeking its second WIAC Tournament championship and first since the inaugural event in 1998. The Titans were making their ninth appearance in the league postseason title game and first since falling to the Pointers in 2011.
UW-Stevens Point outhit UW-Oshkosh, 13-3, after heading into the title contest pacing the conference in scoring at 8.6 runs per game and with 56 home runs. The Pointers, who also produced their league-leading seventh shutout of the year, hit a pair of home runs Saturday.
Bradley Comer and Lucas Luedtke both went 3-for-4 at the plate and combined for eight runs batted in for UW-Stevens Point. Luedtke homered and drove in five runs before Aaron Simmons hit a leadoff home run during home half of the eighth inning to invoke the 10-run rule and conclude the game.
Caleb Krommenakker (6-2) pitched a complete-game shutout, holding the Titans to three hits – all singles – one walk and a hit batter with two strikeouts in eight innings.
Ethan Schreier accounted for two of UW-Oshkosh's hits.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Logan King (3-3) suffered the loss after giving up five runs in 1.1 innings. Matt Sorrells struck out a season-high seven batters in 5.2 innings in relief of King.
UW-Oshkosh established school records with 101 stolen bases and 325 strikeouts this year. Jake Surane, who singled for the Titans Saturday, finished the season with 29 steals to rank third in UW-Oshkosh and seventh in WIAC history. Eric Modaff added 25 stolen bases on the year to list fourth in program history.
Matt Scherrman and Harry Orth also entered the UW-Oshkosh record book as Scherrman's 19 doubles this season were one shy of the school record and Orth's conference-leading 89 strikeouts ties for fifth in program history.
Photo courtesy of Chris Lindeke, UW-Whitewater Sports Information