Titans Open WIAC Postseason Tournament At UW-Stout
Fifth-seeded UW-Oshkosh plays at fourth-seeded UW-Stout for a first round matchup in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship (presented by Culver's) on Wednesday (May 19).
The first pitch of the opening round contest between UW-Oshkosh (20-18) and the Blue Devils (21-17) is set for 1 p.m. at UW-Stout's Nelson Field in Menomonie.
The WIAC Championship features a pair of first round games, including sixth-seeded UW-Platteville (15-25) at third-seeded UW-La Crosse (29-11), on Wednesday before the remainder of the six-team tournament moves to UW-Whitewater on Friday through Sunday (May 21-23). The WIAC Championship winner earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship.
The lowest remaining seed after the first round will play Friday against top-seeded UW-Stevens Point (30-9) while the highest remaining seed takes on second-seeded UW-Whitewater (34-5). UW-Whitewater, ranked third in the country by D3baseball.com, has won the past two WIAC tournament titles in 2017 and 2019. The championship was not held in 2018 nor 2020.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking its second WIAC postseason title and first since the inaugural tournament in 1998. The Titans, back in the WIAC Championship for the first time since 2017, advanced to the conference final in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2011.
UW-Stout, which won a runs-allowed tiebreaker to secure the fourth seed over UW-Oshkosh, has not won a league tournament game since a 9-7, 10-inning decision against the Titans during the 2007 first round.
UW-Oshkosh enters the postseason ranked fourth in the conference with a .292 batting average and third with a 5.27 earned run average. The Titans' 47 home runs on the year are 10th best in the nation and the program's most since launching 52 longballs in 2004.
Twelve different Titans have hit homers this season, including Jarrett Scheelk with a WIAC-leading 13 to rank 10th in the country, Hunter Staniske with eight and Matt Scherrman with seven.
Staniske, who had a 28-game hitting streak come to an end in April, paces UW-Oshkosh with a .424 batting average, 40 runs scored, 51 runs batted in, 105 total bases, a .695 slugging percentage and a .474 on-base percentage to go along with 13 doubles and 15 stolen bases.
Eric Modaff is batting .344 for the Titans while Scherrman and Scheelk are hitting .336 and .324, respectively. Scherrman has a team-best 15 doubles. Modaff is the team leader with 44 runs scored and 22 steals. Connor Giusti, batting .289, has chipped in four home runs and scored 26 runs.
Scheelk also owns a 5-1 record on the mound for UW-Oshkosh with a 4.20 earned run average and 56 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched.
Scherrman, Alex Larson, Will Michalski, Trevor Niedzwiecki, Harry Orth and Grant Yakimisky have each pitched at least 29 innings this year for the Titans. Niedzwiecki is second in the league with 15 appearances and five saves while compiling a 2-3 record and a 3.64 earned run average with 42 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. Orth has added three saves while Michalski sports a 4-2 record on the year.
UW-Stout is fifth in the league with a .290 batting average and fourth with a 5.29 earned run average. The Blue Devils defense has turned a Division III-best 41 double plays this year.
Charlie Szykowny sparks the UW-Stout lineup, batting .389 with 61 hits, 52 runs scored, 22 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 26 RBIs, a .643 slugging percentage and a .471 on-base percentage. His 22 doubles are third most in the nation while his run total is tied for the conference lead.
Kasey Bass and Hunter Merrill are hitting .382 and .326, respectively, as Merrill is third in the conference with 11 home runs and Bass ranks fifth with a .687 slugging percentage to go along with nine home runs.
UW-Stout's James Palmer is one of the top pitchers in the conference, producing a 6-3 record with a 2.03 earned run average, a pair of shutouts and 68 strikeouts in 62 innings across nine starts.
UW-Stevens Point, which shared the league regular season title with UW-Whitewater, is third in the WIAC with a .299 batting average and second with a 4.60 earned run average. The Pointers' 53 home runs this season lead the conference and rank second in the nation.
Bradley Comer, Peyton Nelson and Aaron Simmons each have at least 99 total bases, 42 RBIs, 12 doubles and nine home runs on the year to headline the UW-Stevens Point offense. Nelson is batting .373, Comer .368 and Simmons .359. Simmons is the WIAC co-leader with 13 homers while collecting a WIAC-high 119 total bases, slugging .758 and getting on base at a .448 clip.
Pointers relief pitcher Sidney Ferry has a 3-0 record with a 0.68 earned run average, a conference-best eight saves and a .152 opponent batting average in 26.1 innings.
UW-Whitewater is the conference leader by a wide margin with a .369 batting average and a 2.81 earned run average. The Warhawks, who rank second in the country in both batting average and eight shutout victories, own a 22-1 home record this season.
The Warhawks offense features eight regular starters batting better than .320, including Sam Vomhof at .407, Tucker Criswell at .396, Jacob DeMeyer at .385, Nick Santoro at .372 and Matt Korman at .359 with a team-leading five home runs and 53 RBIs.
UW-Whitewater's pitching staff boasts four starters with earned run averages at or below 2.05. Matt O'Sullivan is 9-0 this season for the Warhawks with a 1.22 earned run average and 103 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. Westin Muir (1.43 earned run average) is 7-1, Connor Spear (1.82) is 5-0 and Donovan Brandl (2.05) is 6-1 as the quartet has combined to start 35 of the team's 39 games on the year.
UW-La Crosse ranks second in the WIAC with a .340 batting average and fifth with a 5.47 earned run average. The Eagles are scoring a conference-high 9.8 runs per game.
Brennan Schmitt spearheads the UW-La Crosse offense, averaging .419 with 13 doubles, six home runs, 47 runs scored, 48 RBIs, a .705 slugging percentage and a .516 on-base percentage. Mac Born is batting .349 with a squad-best 49 runs batted in for the Eagles.
Zach Pronschinske, the 2019 WIAC Pitcher of the Year, helms the UW-La Crosse hurlers with a 6-2 record, a 4.45 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in 58.2 innings.
UW-Platteville is sixth in the league with a .251 batting average and a 6.48 earned run average.
The Pioneers' Jonathan Kelso paces the WIAC in batting average (.450), hits (68), runs scored (52), stolen bases (27), slugging percentage (.781) and on-base percentage (.538). Kelso also ranks second in the conference with 18 doubles, fourth with four triples and seventh with eight home runs.
UW-Stevens Point has won 11 of the 21 conference postseason titles. UW-Whitewater owns six league postseason championships while UW-La Crosse has won three. UW-Platteville joins UW-Stout in seeking its first WIAC tournament crown.