Titans Victorious In Both Games Against Blue Devils
The UW-Oshkosh offense collected 15 extra-base hits, including four home runs, and three pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts on the day as the nationally ranked Titans swept a WIAC baseball doubleheader against UW-Stout on Sunday (April 29) in La Crosse.
UW-Oshkosh (23-6, 10-4 WIAC), ranked 11th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, defeated the Blue Devils by scores of 9-1 in the opener and 10-5 during the nightcap.
The Titans, who have won 12 of their last 14 meetings with UW-Stout, went 3-1 against the Blue Devils this season. UW-Stout and UW-Oshkosh split a pair of games Saturday (April 28), with the Titans winning, 7-2, and the Blue Devils prevailing by a 6-5 score.
UW-Oshkosh produced a .710 slugging percentage and held a lead after each the 18 innings Sunday. The Titans hit 11 doubles, including seven in the nightcap, to extend their WIAC-leading total to 77 two-base hits on the season.
UW-Oshkosh's Andy Brahier went a combined 6-for-7 with a double, two home runs, three walks and eight runs batted in. Brahier, who increased his team-leading batting average to .467, has 13 multiple-hit games in 19 contests played this season.
Alex Koch had three doubles and a home run among his five hits on the day for the Titans, who also received four hits and three RBIs from Dylan Ott, a home run and a double from Zack Radde, and a pair of doubles from Sam Schwenn.
Jack Paulson contributed two hits, four walks and four runs scored Sunday. Paulson's final walk of the day – in the fourth inning of the second game – gave him 100 bases on ball in his career, which ties the UW-Oshkosh program record with Vince Mancuso, who established the mark from 1999-2003. Paulson is the ninth WIAC player to reach 100 career walks.
The Titans' Colan Treml turned in a dominant pitching performance in the opener, limiting UW-Stout to just three hits and one walk en route to his third complete-game victory of the year. Treml, who improved his season record to 8-0, tied his season high with nine strikeouts.
In the second contest, UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Lucas Gregory struck out a career-high nine batters across the first six innings before reliever Nick McLees recorded three strikeouts over the final three frames.
UW-Oshkosh supported Treml's pitching gem with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Titans extended the lead to 8-0 after the sixth frame before the Blue Devils broke up Treml's bid for his fourth career shutout in the top of the seventh.
The Titans' four-run first inning featured a two-run homer by Brahier, a solo home run from Koch and an RBI single by Radde.
Brahier drew a bases-loaded walk in the second inning and added a run-scoring double in the fifth to extend the Titan advantage to 6-0.
Ott tacked on a two-run double during the home half of the sixth inning and plated a run with a squeeze bunt in the eighth frame.
The Blue Devils' lone run came on a solo homer by Kasey Bass with one out in the seventh inning. Treml, who did not allow a hit until a two-out single by Ben Vanhove in the fourth inning, went on to retire the final eight UW-Stout batters after Bass' home run.
Brahier reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks and four RBIs. Ott and Paulson both added two of the Titans' 12 hits.
UW-Stout starting pitcher Wyatt Ernstmeyer (0-4) was charged with the loss after yielding six runs on 10 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six.
In the nightcap, Brahier launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, and Radde added a solo home run in the second frame for a 4-2 Titan advantage. The home run was Brahier's second of the day and fourth of the season. Radde now has three home runs on the year, all within the past eight days.
Koch doubled home a run and Jonathan Selchow lifted a sacrifice fly in the third inning to extend the UW-Oshkosh lead to 6-2. Brahier drove in his eighth run of the day with a single in the fourth frame.
The Titans increased their lead to 8-3 on Koch's third double of the game, which scored Brahier in the sixth inning. UW-Oshkosh capped the scoring with an RBI double from Radde in the seventh frame and an RBI single by Selchow in the eighth.
UW-Stout cut its deficit to 3-2 in the top of the second inning on a two-run single from Jordan Wilson and pulled within 8-5 on Vanhove's two-run triple in the seventh.
Koch went 4-for-5 to lead the Titans while Brahier was 3-for-4, and Ott, Radde and Selchow each chipped in two of UW-Oshkosh's 14 hits.
The Blue Devils had 15 hits, including four by Bass, three from Jack Hemseth and two apiece by Vanhove and Wilson.
Gregory (3-3) picked up the win after holding the Blue Devils to three runs and scattering nine hits in six innings. Gregory has won three of his four starts on the year.
McLees notched his first save of the season and the second of his career by allowing two runs on six hits over the final three innings.
Blue Devils starting pitcher Luke Eide (0-4) suffered the loss, ceding seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and four walks in 3.2 innings.
The four-game series was played in La Crosse due to stadium conditions at UW-Oshkosh's Tiedemann Field. The Titans will play each of their remaining scheduled home games at a neutral site since a safety net broke during a recent winter storm.
The Titans are off to their best start since opening the 2008 season with a 26-6 overall record and a 15-3 mark in league play. UW-Oshkosh made its last Division III Championship appearance in 2008.
UW-Oshkosh heads to Madison for a single game against Edgewood College on Wednesday (May 2).