Warhawks Sweep Titans To Capture WIAC Title
UW-Oshkosh's Alex Koch hit for the cycle on the day, but nationally ranked UW-Whitewater swept a pair of baseball games fron the Titans on Friday (May 5) at Tiedemann Field.
UW-Whitewater (28-6, 15-3 WIAC) won the opener by a 9-3 score and the second contest, 7-1. The Warhawks, ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, clinched their 17th WIAC title and first since winning three straight championships from 2013-15.
UW-Oshkosh (22-16, 11-7 WIAC) remains second in the conference standings – one game ahead of UW-La Crosse (24-14, 10-8 WIAC) – with two league games left.
UW-Oshkosh concludes the regular season by hosting UW-Whitewater for a doubleheader on Saturday (May 6) while UW-La Crosse plays two league games at UW-Platteville.
On Friday, UW-Whitewater never trailed after outhitting the Titans, 23-14.
In the opener, the Warhawks broke open a scoreless game with six runs on five hits during the top of the fifth inning. Matt Wary singled to lead off the inning and came around to score the game's first run on an infield throwing error.
A sacrifice fly by Blake Fleischman gave UW-Whitewater a 2-0 advantage before Steve Chamberlain hit a grand slam to right field for a 6-0 lead against UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Nick McLees.
UW-Whitewater extended its lead to 8-0 with a pair of runs in the sixth inning Mike Aiello lifted a sacrifice fly and Fleischman delivered a run-scoring groundout.
Koch got UW-Oshkosh on the board with a two-run home run to right field off UW-Whitewater starting pitcher Heath Renz. The home run was Koch's second of the year and third in his career.
The teams then exchanged runs in the ninth inning to provide the game's final score. UW-Whitewater's Brett Krause hit a sacrifice fly for a 9-2 Warhawk lead, and the Titans capped the scoring as Koch doubled and crossed the plate on a two-out double by Dylan Ott.
Jordan Kuczynski paced the Warhawks with three hits while Koch tallied a single, a double and a home run for the Titans. Wary and Daytona Bryden added two hits apiece for UW-Whitewater.
Renz (7-0) picked up the win for the Warhawks, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks across the first seven innings.
McLees (2-4) suffered the loss after yielding eight runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Scott Gorsuch gave up just one run on one hit over the final 3.2 innings.
In Friday's nightcap, UW-Whitewater tallied a pair of runs in the third inning before adding two insurance runs in both the eighth and ninth frames.
UW-Whitewater starting pitcher Austin Jones (7-2) tossed a complete game, limiting the Titans to one run on six hits. He struck out seven and issued one walk.
The Warhawks collected 12 hits, including three each from Bryden, Fleischman and Kuczynski. Bryden hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning while Fleischman registered a pair of doubles and Kuczynski added a two-base hit.
Fleischman recorded the eventual game-winning hit with a two-out, two-run double in the third inning.
The Titans trimmed their deficit to 2-1 in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Johnny Eagan, but UW-Whitewater increased its lead to 3-1 on a run-scoring single by Bryden in the fifth.
Koch laced a one-out triple in the Titan half of the fifth inning, but Kuczynski, the UW-Whitewater shortstop, gunned down Koch at the plate following a subsequent ground ball off the bat of Ott.
The Titans left a runner in scoring position in the seventh inning, and the Warhawks tacked on two runs in the eighth.
Bryden then homered to left field with no outs in the ninth inning to complete the game's scoring.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Colan Treml (5-2) suffered the loss, surrendering five runs on 10 hits in eight innings. He recorded four strikeouts and walked one.
The Titans and Warhawks wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader on Saturday (May 6) at Tiedemann Field.