The UW Oshkosh baseball team has improved their overall record to 18-13 after sweeping the UW-Platteville Pioneers in a four game series over April 22-23 and beating Ripon College 5-3 on April 26.
Saturday’s games
The sweep over the Pioneers moved the Titans into second place in the WIAC, two games below UW-Whitewater, who sits in first at 10-2 in WIAC play, and one game above UW-Stevens Point, who sits in third at 7-5.
Titans head coach Kevin Tomasiewicz said he is pleased with the way the team was able to finally come together and play strong in all three phases of the game from an entire series.
“I thought everything came together pretty well this weekend,” Tomasiewicz said. “I thought our offense did a really nice job of capitalizing on their pitching. We got some walks and then got some big hits when we got the walks which is something that we haven’t been doing.”
The Titans began the four-game series with a 7-1 victory in game one on Saturday and a 8-0 victory in game two. On Sunday the Titans took game one by a score of 13-4 and game two 11-1.
In the first victory on Saturday, the Titans got things started in the first inning by scoring two runs in a game where starting pitcher Nick McLees pitched a shutout with seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
The first came from a single to shortstop from junior first baseman Andy Brahier that brought in junior shortstop Jack Paulson who was on base from a single.
After a liner was caught for an out from junior catcher Taylor Grimm, senior shortstop Tyler Kozlowski advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven in the next at bat by a single to right field from sophomore outfielder Sam Schwenn.
After a scoreless second inning from both teams, the Titans tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third from a two-run home-run from Brahier that brought in senior outfielder Johnny Eagan.
The bottom of the fourth resulted in two more runs from the Titans after Brahier had a two-run RBI double to center field that scored Eagan and Kozlowski.
The fifth and sixth innings went scoreless for both teams.
It was not until the bottom of the seventh that Oshkosh brought in another run via a single down the left field line from junior second baseman Noah Polcyn that brought in sophomore outfielder Alex Koch who was on base from a triple.
Platteville got on the board in the top of the eighth after an RBI single. However, the Titans were able to keep them from scoring again and after a scoreless bottom of the eighth from the Titans and a scoreless top of the ninth from the Pioneers, the game ended with the Titans on top 7-1.
McLees said he feels the team was playing well on all three fronts, which led to their success.
“This weekend was a culmination of pitching, hitting and fielding,” McLees said. “Everything just felt like it was on point. We all came together as a team, the bench as well. Everyone was in the game for all four games.”
In the second game on Saturday, the Titans got off to another fast start, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first as pitcher Colan Treml pitched a career-high 10 strikeouts in pitched his second straight and third overall shutout of the season.
After a quick three outs on the Pioneers, the Titans’ scored two runs in the bottom of the first. One was from a sac fly from Brahier that brought in Kozlowski who was on base from a single to left field.
The second run came from a triple down the right field line from Schwenn that scored Eagan who was on base from a double to right field.
With the Titans on top 2-0, both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the fifth where the Titans tacked on another run via sac fly from sophomore catcher Jensen Hinton that brought in Eagan who was on base from a double to center.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth until the bottom of the seventh when the Titans scored one run from a homer to left field from Eagan.
It was in the bottom of the eighth when the Titans scored their final four runs of the game.
A two-run RBI double to center field from Eagan brought in Paulson and sophomore infielder Zach Radde. A single down the left field line from Brahier brought in Eagan and Kozlowski.
After the Pioneers went scoreless in the top of the ninth, the game ended with the Titans on top 8-0.
Sunday’s games
The Titans continued their shutout against Platteville after they scored 13 runs in the first game on Sunday.
After a scoreless first inning from both teams, the Titans got on the board in the bottom of the second from a bases-loaded walk on Paulson that brought in Grimm who was on base from a single to right field.
The Pioneers went scoreless in the top of the third and it was in the bottom of the third that the Titans brought in seven runs.
The first run came from a bases loaded walk on Grimm that brought in Eagan who was on after hitting a double to center field.
A two-run RBI from Koch scored Brahier and Schwenn.
With the bases loaded, Paulson was walked and scored Grimm which was followed with a single from Kozlowski that scored Koch and Polcyn.
The last run of the inning came from an RBI single from Eagan that scored Paulson.
By the end of the third the Titans were ahead of the Pioneers 8-0.
A scoreless fourth from both teams led to the top of the fifth where Platteville managed to score four runs. However, the Titans countered with tacking on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The first run was from a double to right center from Kozlowski that brought in Paulson who was on base from being walked.
The second run of the inning for Oshkosh came from a double to right field from Grimm that scored Eagan and Kozlowski.
Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the eighth when the Titans scored one more run via a single from Kozlowski that scored Paulson who was on base after hitting a triple.
The game ended after a scoreless top of the ninth for the Pioneers that led to the 13-4 Oshkosh win.
Game two on Sunday completed the four-game sweep on Platteville for the Titans with pitcher Jon Maday allowing a mere four hits and one run in six innings.
Maday said he is happy the team was able to take all four wins and move into second place, but he realizes the season is far from over.
“It was a good weekend for us; it was definitely something we needed,” Maday said. “We’re happy but we’re not satisfied. We still have unfinished business to do in the conference and go up the standings in the conference.”
The game got started with the Pioneers scoring a run in the top of the first inning. For the first time in the series, Platteville had the lead over the Titans.
Oshkosh quickly countered with scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. A triple from Kozlowski scored Paulson who was on base from a walk. The second run came from an RBI from Eagan that scored Kozlowski.
The Titans put on two more runs in the bottom of the second after an RBI from Paulson that brought in Koch and a sac fly from Kozlowski that scored Paulson.
The Titans piled on seven more runs in the bottom of the fourth and never looked back as both teams went scoreless the rest of the game with the Titans on top 11-1.
Ripon
Against Ripon, the Titans got off to a fast start, scoring four runs in the first inning and one run in the second. The rest of the game went scoreless until the ninth inning when Ripon scored three runs before the Titans were able to get three outs to end the game on top 5-3.
The Titans continue WIAC play this weekend at the 2-10 fifth-place UW-Stout in a four-game series. UWO looks to end their season on a strong note, as four-game series against Stout and UW-Whitewater surround a nonconference tilt against Edgewood College.
Currently UWO is two games behind the first-place Warhawks, who hold a 10-2 WIAC conference record.
