Titans Storm Back To Sweep Blue Devils
UW-Oshkosh swept a baseball doubleheader from UW-Stout as Jesse Sustachek earned a complete-game win in the first game and the Titans exploded for 14 runs over the final three innings during the nightcap on Saturday (April 29) in Menomonie.
UW-Oshkosh (21-14, 11-5 WIAC) eked out a 3-2 victory in the opener before downing the Blue Devils, 15-5, during the second contest in which the Titans trailed by four runs entering the seventh inning. UW-Oshkosh has won nine of its last 11 meetings with UW-Stout.
The Titans remain second in the conference standings – two games behind UW-Whitewater (26-6, 13-3 WIAC) – with four league games left. UW-Oshkosh concludes the season by hosting a four-game series against UW-Whitewater next Friday and Saturday (May 5-6) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Stout (8-23, 5-11 WIAC) remains fifth in the conference standings.
Alex Koch collected five hits on the day to pace the Titans, who pounded out a season-high 18 hits during the second contest.
UW-Oshkosh's Jack Paulson and Logan Reckert chipped in four hits apiece while Johnny Eagan extended his reached base streak to 35 games with hits in both contests.
In Saturday's opener, Reckert gave UW-Oshkosh a 3-2 lead by scoring Taylor Grimm from second base with a two-out single in the top of the seventh inning.
Sustachek made the late lead hold up by retiring the Blue Devils in order during the home half of the seventh innings and stranding three baserunners over the final two frames.
UW-Stout had runners at first and second bases with one out in the eighth inning, but Sustachek recorded a strikeout and induced a groundout to hold the lead.
The Blue Devils later got a one-out single in the ninth inning before Sustachek preserved the victory with a groundout and a strikeout to conclude the contest.
Sustachek (6-2), who leads the Titans in wins this season, completed his third game of the season. He allowed the Blue Devils two runs (one earned) on just six hits and one walk while matching his career high with eight strikeouts.
UW-Stout took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a run-scoring single by Noah Brown.
UW-Oshkosh claimed a 2-1 advantage in the fourth inning as Koch scored on a two-out infield error, and Paulson delivered a run-scoring single two batters later against Blue Devils starting pitcher Drew Worth.
The Blue Devils tied the score at 2 in the fifth inning. Ben Vanhove led off the inning with a single, stole second base and advanced to third base on an error with no outs. Tim Bott scored Vanhove with a single, but Sustachek limited the damage by getting a flyout and a pair of groundouts.
UW-Oshkosh left 14 runners on base while UW-Stout stranded six. The Titans, who had baserunners each inning, left the bases loaded in the fourth inning and stranded two runners during the fifth, seventh and eighth frames.
Grimm and Koch both had two of the Titans' eight hits.
Blue Devils relief pitcher Paul Danczyk (0-4) was charged with the loss after allowing one run on two hits and three walks in three innings.
Worth pitched the first six innings for UW-Stout, surrendering two unearned runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
In Saturday's second contest, UW-Oshkosh overwhelmed the Blue Devils with 14 runs on 12 hits over the final three innings.
The Titans scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning to pull within 5-3 as Dylan Ott hit a run-scoring single and Noah Polcyn followed with a sacrifice fly.
UW-Oshkosh then exploded for five runs in the eighth inning and seven more runs in the ninth.
The Titans' eighth inning featured a one-out, two-run double by Reckert, a run-scoring groundout from Polcyn and a two-out run-scoring single by Tyler Kozlowski.
UW-Oshkosh sent 12 batters to the plate during its ninth-inning onslaught, which included run-scoring singles from Paulson and Reckert, a two-run single by Polcyn and a two-out, three-run double from Grimm.
UW-Stout opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning against UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jon Maday. Brown launched a two-out, two-run home run and Derek Graves hit a run-scoring single two batters later.
Ott lifted a sacrifice fly to trim UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 3-1 in the top of the second inning, but the Blue Devils answered with a run in the bottom of the second frame. UW-Stout extended its lead to 5-1 during the fourth inning on a two-out, run-scoring double by Joel Hollow.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Alex Larson (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win after holding the Blue Devils to just one run on five hits across the final seven innings. He struck out three and issued one walk.
Koch, Paulson and Reckert each accounted for three of the Titans' 18 hits while Ott, Polcyn and Zack Radde each contributed two hits.
Polcyn drove in a career-high four runs, and Grimm and Reckert chipped in three RBIs apiece.
UW-Stout starting pitcher Max Sires (2-6) suffered the loss after yielding eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 7.2 innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Blue Devils relief pitcher Wyatt Ernstmeyer surrendered seven runs on five hits and three walks in one-plus inning of work.
UW-Oshkosh returns home to face Edgewood College on Wednesday (May 3) at Tiedemann Field.