Bio

David Christman was a two-time All-America pitcher who helped the UW-Oshkosh baseball program to one World Series appearance, four district titles, four conference championships and an 87-39 record from 1968-71.

The left-handed throwing Christman pitched in 33 career games for the Titans and compiled a 17-8 record with 170 strikeouts and a 2.65 earned run average across 200.2 innings. He also tallied 18 hits among his 79 career at-bats, including four doubles and two home runs.

Christman pitched in six games during the 1968 season and posted a 3-1 record with 29 strikeouts and a 1.68 earned run average in 32 innings of work.

The following year Christman received All-WIAC First Team, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-District 14 First Team and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention recognition after totaling a 6-1 record with 44 strikeouts and a 1.29 earned run average during a team-leading 56 innings pitched.

Christman repeated as an All-WIAC First Team, NAIA All-District 14 First Team and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention selection in 1970. He registered a 5-2 record that season with 46 strikeouts and a 2.37 earned run average through a team-leading 53 innings of duty. Christman also hit .364 with one home run, one double and six runs batted in during 22 at-bats.

In 1971, Christman and the Titans compiled a 24-16 record and captured their fourth straight WIAC and NAIA District 14 championships. UW-Oshkosh then won the NAIA Area IV title to advance to the World Series in Phoenix, Ariz., where they finished fifth. Christman etched a 3-4 record that season with 51 strikeouts and a 5.13 earned run average during 59.2 innings pitched.

Christman, a Racine Park High School graduate, was the winning pitcher in several big games for the Titans. He scattered five hits during UW-Oshkosh's 5-3 victory over St. Norbert College in the championship game of the 1968 NAIA District 14 Tournament and pitched a three-hit shutout during the Titans' 6-0 triumph over Milton College in the championship contest of the 1969 NAIA District 14 Tournament.

Christman additionally pitched all 14 innings during UW-Oshkosh's 3-1 victory over National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I University of South Alabama in 1969 and was the winning pitcher during the Titans' 8-4 triumph over Division I University of Wisconsin in 1970.

Following his collegiate career, Christman went on to earn several awards while playing semi-professional baseball for the Green Bay Blue Ribbons and the Oshkosh Giants of the Wisconsin State League from 1971-79. In 1971, Christman established a Wisconsin State League record by striking out 24 batters during a nine-inning contest.

Christman was a distinguished mathematics teacher in the Oshkosh Area School District from 1971-2005. He also coached the varsity baseball team at Oshkosh West High School to a 14-6 record in 1975 and the school's varsity softball team to a 280-180 mark from 1988-2009.

Christman enjoyed a great deal of success guiding the Oshkosh West softball program. The Wildcats won Fox Valley Association titles in 1990, 2001 and 2003 while advancing to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament six times, including the 1989 season when they finished second in Division A.

Christman, who graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 1971 and earned his master's degree from the school in 1985, was inducted into the Wisconsin State League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Oshkosh West High School Hall of Fame in 2018.

Christman is retired and lives in Oshkosh with wife Gail. They are the parents of son Brian and daughter Kathryn.