Titans Remain Alive In WIAC Championship
Jack Paulson went 4-for-4 and Peter Jewell pitched into the eighth inning as UW-Oshkosh staved off elimination by splitting a pair of games against nationally ranked opponents at the WIAC Baseball Championship on Friday (May 8) at Prucha Field in Whitewater.
The fourth-seeded Titans (26-16) lost the opening game of the four-team, double-elimination tournament, 5-2, to host and top seed UW-Whitewater (31-7), but UW-Oshkosh rebounded for an 11-4 victory over second-seeded UW-La Crosse (28-12) in Friday's elimination contest. UW-Whitewater is ranked third in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com while UW-La Crosse is 17th.
UW-Oshkosh advances to play in Game 5 on Saturday (May 9) at 1 p.m. against the loser of Game 4 (UW-Whitewater vs. UW-Stevens Point), which was postponed to Saturday at 10 a.m. due to rain. The winners of Game 4 and Game 5 will meet for the WIAC title later on Saturday.
The WIAC postseason tournament champion earns the league's automatic bid to the 56-team Division III Championship.
In Friday's other game, UW-La Crosse was sent to the loser's bracket with a 2-0 loss to third-seeded UW-Stevens Point (29-11).
In the elimination game, Jewell took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the Titans pulled away by scoring nine runs over the last two frames.
UW-Oshkosh outhit UW-La Crosse, 14-11, and the Titans tallied six unearned runs on five Eagles errors. UW-Oshkosh has won 14 straight games when it records at least nine hits.
Jewell and UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Joe Miller didn't allow an earned run through seven innings, but the Titans led, 2-0, heading into the eighth.
Paulson singled to lead off the third frame, stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and touched home with the game's first run on a passed ball. Robbie Kleman scored from third base on an errant pick-off attempt at first base to give UW-Oshkosh a 2-0 advantage in the fifth inning.
Troy Kenkel relieved Miller to begin the eighth inning, and UW-Oshkosh erupted for six runs on five hits and three errors.
Andy Brahier hit a sacrifice fly with no outs and the bases loaded, ending Kenkel's outing. Logan Reckert greeted the new UW-La Crosse reliever, closer Jameson Sadowske, with a run-scoring single for a 4-0 lead. Cooper Lang reached on an error with two outs to reload the bases, and Paulson followed with a two-run single. After the Eagles' third error of the inning loaded the bases once again, John Eagan drew a walk, and Luke Gajewski capped the outburst with an RBI single.
UW-La Crosse's Ben Morgan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to chase Jewell. Two batters later, Bryce Barsness added a two-run home run of his own to trim the Eagles' deficit to 8-4, but Lang answered with his team-leading third home run – a three-run shot to left field – in the top of the ninth frame to provide the final score.
Jewell (5-4), who has pitched at least seven innings in his last five starts, allowed three runs on eight hits in 7.1 frames to win his second straight decision.
Gajewski, Kleman, Lang and Reckert each had two hits for the Titans.
Miller (7-2) was charged with the loss for UW-La Crosse after yielding two unearned runs on six hits in seven innings pitched. He struck out six and walked one.
Taylor Kohlwey paced the Eagles with four hits, all singles.
In the first game of the WIAC tournament, UW-Whitewater shortstop Mikole Pierce went 3-for-4 with a double and a solo home run to lift the Warhawks past the Titans and into the winner's bracket.
UW-Whitewater starting pitcher Lake Bachar went seven strong innings to outduel UW-Oshkosh's Ben Messenger. Bachar allowed five hits and two runs to improve his record to 6-1. Messenger fell to 4-5 on the year after ceding five runs (three earned) on six hits in seven frames.
Austin Finn notched his second save of the season for UW-Whitewater after allowing just one hit in two scoreless innings.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Steve Chamberlain's two-out, two-run double.
UW-Oshkosh got on the board in the top of the third inning on a two-out run-scoring single by Gajewski, but UW-Whitewater upped its lead to 4-1 with two unearned runs in the fifth frame.
Kleman's seventh-inning single drove home Reckert, who recorded three of the Titans' six hits, to trim the Titan deficit to 4-2 before Pierce capped the scoring with his ninth home run of the season, a solo blast to lead off the home half of the eighth.
UW-Oshkosh, making its 16th appearance at the WIAC Championship, is seeking its second title and first since the inaugural league tournament in 1998.
Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, UW-Whitewater Athletics