Titans To Play For Regional Championship, World Series Berth
UW-Oshkosh reclaimed the lead in the seventh inning and held on for a 9-7 victory over Concordia University Chicago (Ill.) in a battle of nationally ranked baseball teams during the NCAA Division III Championship regional winner's bracket final Saturday (May 19) in Duluth, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh (34-8) scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to take a 7-6 advantage. The Titans added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth frame before Concordia University Chicago brought the tying run to the plate in the final inning.
The game featured 30 hits, including 10 for extra bases, and five lead changes.
The Titans will face Concordia University Chicago at noon Sunday (May 20) for the championship round of the Duluth Regional. The Cougars (36-13) earned a rematch against UW-Oshkosh by staving off elimination with a 6-3 win over University of Dubuque (Iowa) on Saturday night.
The winner of the Duluth Regional will join the seven other regional champions at the Division III World Series that begins Friday (May 25) in Appleton. UW-Oshkosh, the 1985 and 1994 national champion, is seeking its 18th trip to the Division III World Series and first since 2003. Concordia University Chicago is looking to return to Appleton for the second year in a row.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked seventh in the country by D3baseball.com, recorded 18 hits against eighth-ranked Concordia University Chicago. The Titans, who got hits from all nine spots in the batting order, matched their season high with seven doubles to increase their total to 111 two-base hits on the year, which ties the program record established in 1996.
Alex Koch went 4-for-5 with three runs to pace the Titans, who also received three hits from Zack Radde and two hits each from Andy Brahier, Taylor Grimm and Dylan Ott. Radde had a pair of doubles and a stolen base while Ott drove in a team-leading three runs.
Titans relief pitcher Alex Larson (1-0) earned his first win of the season after limiting the dynamic Concordia University Chicago lineup to just one run on three hits in 3.1 innings. Larson retired nine consecutive Cougars until allowing a run with two outs in the ninth inning.
Larson entered in the sixth inning for Chris Atwood, who provided the Titans a career-high 4.2 innings of relief. Atwood held the Cougars to two runs on five hits while making his fourth pitching appearance since March.
Concordia University Chicago, which went into the contest second nationally with 145 steals and sixth with 523 hits, registered 12 hits – nine of which were singles – but stole just one base. The Cougars had 59 total stolen bases over their previous 19 games before Saturday.
Jose Mercado was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in for the Cougars. Concordia University Chicago's Jacob Frank and Brady Roberts both contributed two hits and a pair of RBIs.
UW-Oshkosh scored twice in the first inning on a run-scoring double by Grimm and a bases-loaded walk by Ott. Concordia University Chicago answered with three unearned runs in the home half of the first frame as a fielding error on a potential double-play ball by Paulson, the Titans shortstop, allowed the inning to continue. Roberts laced a two-run single to tie the score, and Frank followed with a double off of UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jesse Sustachek to plate Roberts.
The Titans responded with two runs in the second inning to retake a 4-3 edge, but the Cougars knotted the score at 4 in the second frame and scored the go-ahead run in the third. Radde and Grimm hit consecutive run-scoring singles in the second inning for the Titans before Mercado tied the game with a single in the second frame and gave the Cougars the lead with another RBI single in the third.
UW-Oshkosh tallied the tying run in the top of the fifth inning as Koch led off with a single, stole second base and scored on a one-out double by Ott.
Concordia University Chicago took its third and final lead at 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a single by Frank that scored Mercado.
Brahier sparked the Titans' two-run seventh inning with a leadoff single. Koch followed with a double ahead of Logan Reckert, who tied the game with a single to right field that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Ott then lifted a sacrifice fly for a 7-6 UW-Oshkosh advantage.
UW-Oshkosh failed to score in the eighth inning despite a leadoff double from Radde, but Koch, Reckert and Ott registered consecutive singles to open the ninth frame. Sean Cummins drove in Koch with a grounder for what proved to be the winning run. With the bases loaded and one out, Paulson contributed a sacrifice fly that extended the Titan lead to 9-6.
Larson induced a pair of groundouts to Ott at third base to open the bottom of the ninth, but Kevin Coppin kept the Cougars alive with a single. Connor Brandon followed with a triple to cut the Concordia University Chicago deficit to 9-7, but Larson struck out Keegan Tyrell swinging to end the game.
Cougars relief pitcher Cody Caballero (1-4) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs (three earned) on eight hits over the final four innings.
Through three games at the Duluth Regional, UW-Oshkosh has produced a .374 batting average and a .588 slugging percentage with 11 doubles, three triples and seven stolen bases.
In Saturday's other elimination contest, University of Dubuque () downed North Central College (Ill.) (29-14) by an 8-4 score.
NCAA Division III Baseball Championship • Duluth Regional Website
NCAA Division III Baseball Championship • UW-Oshkosh Host Website
UW-Oshkosh Postgame Press Conference [head coach Kevin Tomasiewicz & junior outfielder Alex Koch]: