Titans Fall To Eagles In La Crosse
LA CROSSE, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh baseball team faced UW-La Crosse at Copeland Park on Saturday (April 13), where it dropped both games against its conference foe.
Nick Shiu (Jr. • Gurnee, Ill.) led the Titans (12-12, 6-6 WIAC) on the day, going 5-for-9 with two RBIs and two doubles.
The starting pitcher for Oshkosh in the series opener was LJ Waco (Sr. • Cary, Ill.), who threw 5.1 innings and struck out seven batters, while allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits. He was assigned his first loss of the season (4-1).
La Crosse scored first, tallying second inning runs on a passed ball and a solo home run, a fifth inning run on an RBI single and a three-run home run in the sixth.
Aaron Huibregtse (Jr. • Oostburg), Parker Thompson (So. • Wauwatosa) and Alex Windey (Jr. • Wrightstown) each pitched an inning and each recorded two strikeouts in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Thompson allowed four runs on three hits and two walks.
In the top of the seventh, Oshkosh got on the board when Shiu knocked a two RBI double to left field that sent both Zach Taylor (Sr. • Long Grove, Ill.) and Jake Surane (Sr. • Lincolnshire, Ill.) across the plate to cut the deficit to 6-2.
The Eagles added four more runs in the seventh inning. Thompson struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a solo home run and forced a fly out before another Eagle hit a three run home run to make the score 10-2.
Braydon Skenandore (So. • De Pere) hit a double to center field before scoring on a Surane single to left to kick off the eighth inning. Jack McNamara (So. • La Grange, Ill.) sent Surane home on an RBI double to left center, Taylor scored McNamara with a single to right center and Mason Kirchberg (Jr. • DeForest) homered to right center after Taylor advanced to second on a wild pitch to cut La Crosse's lead to three runs at 10-7. The Eagles then swapped pitchers and both Shiu and Brenden Max (So. • Libertyville, Ill.) singled to put two more runners on base before Carter Stebane (Jr. • Brillion) struck out to end the inning.
The Titans grounded out, lined out and struck out in order in the top of the ninth inning, falling to La Crosse, 10-7.
In the second game of the day, Connor Brinkman (Jr. • New London) started on the hill for the Titans. He threw 6 innings and struck out seven batters while allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks.
Anthony Vivian put La Crosse on the board first again, doubling to score Jack Olver and Mac Born in the bottom of the first inning.
Shiu doubled to right field and advanced to third on a Max groundout in the top of the second before getting stranded on base when Stebane struck out to end the inning.
Brinkman kept the Eagles off the board until a single to left field crossed home and made the score 3-0. Another single pushed the Eagles' lead to 4-0.
Huibregtse threw relief again in game two, starting in the seventh inning and going the remaining three innings. His first inning saw him force a flyout and two strikeouts, maintaining the score headed into the eighth.
Skenandore hit a one out home run to left center in the eighth inning, cutting the score to 4-1 before La Crosse scored two runs on a single in the bottom half.
Oshkosh advanced runners to first and third with two outs in the top of the ninth, but a flyout ended the game with a 6-1 score.
The Titans will face the Eagles again on Sunday (April 14) for two more games at Copeland Park.