The UW Oshkosh baseball team completed a four-game sweep versus UW-Eau Claire on March 29 and 30 to begin Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The first game against Eau Claire was the first UWO took the field in 12 days due to the cancellation of a total of three games against both Milwaukee School of Engineering and Carthage College last week.

Connor Brinkman got the start on the mound in game one against the Blugolds, his fifth start of the season.

The Titans would take the lead and never look back. Nick Shiu hit an RBI single in the first inning to give the Titans a 1-0 lead to start the game. The second inning would be more of the same as Logan Schill hit an RBI double that brought home Brenden Max from second. Jack McNamara followed with an RBI groundout that allowed Braydon Skenandore to score from third, extending the Titans lead to 3-0.

As Brinkman continued to throw four scoreless innings, UWO added more to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zach Taylor hit a two-RBI double that scored McNamara from second and Jake Surane from first. Mason Kirchberg hit a single to left field in the next at-bat that allowed Taylor to advance to third, but thanks to a fielding error by the Blugolds left fielder Taylor was able to score on the play, making the Titans’ lead grow to 6-0.

The Blugolds eventually got on the scoreboard after RBIs from both Dustan Green and Ethan Plantz in the seventh inning. After recording one out in the eighth inning, Brinkman gave up a two-run home run to Drew Salyers, marking the end to Brinkman’s day on the mound. The Blugolds cut the Titans’ lead down to 7-4.

Brinkman finished the day with 7.1 innings pitched allowing four runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts to two walks, earning the win. 

Brett Gaynor came into the game and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings allowing three hits to secure a 7-4 Titans victory for his first save of the season.

Game two saw Connor Walters take the mound for his third start of the season in search for his first win this season.

After Walters struck out the first two batters of the contest he gave up a solo home run to Blugolds’ first baseman Walter Johnson, giving the Blugolds an early 1-0 lead.

The Titans responded immediately with a lead off double by Surane to put himself in scoring position and two at-bats later Taylor would drive Surane home with a double of his own, knotting the game at 1-1 after one inning of play.

The Blugolds had two out magic once again in the second inning with a runner at first base and Plantz hitting an RBI triple to gain the lead back from the Titans. Walters was able to get the following batter to pop-out preventing any further damage. 

The Titans were able to tie the game back up in the bottom of the inning when McNamara hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, scoring Skenandore from third. 

From this point forward UWO’s bats would continue to roll and Walters would get in a groove on the mound. 

Walters forced three straight fly outs in the top of the third inning for a scoreless inning. The Titans in the bottom of the inning led off with a Kirchberg homerun to take the lead. Skenadore hit a sacrifice fly that scored Carter Stebane before Max was thrown out at third base to end the inning, giving the Titans a 4-2 lead.

The Titans earned themselves a big inning in the bottom of the fourth as Jack McKellips began the scoring barrage by advancing home on a wild pitch. McNamara hit an RBI double followed by an RBI single by Taylor that scored McNamara. The Titans then hit two sacrifice flies before the end of the inning by both Shiu and Max, giving the Titans a total of five runs for the inning and extending their lead to 9-2.

The game didn’t see any other scoring until the bottom of the seventh inning where Surane hit a three run home run. This extended the Titans lead to 12-2, which ended the game due to the 10-run lead rule.

Walters earned his first win of the season pitching a seven inning complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out five batters and giving up zero walks.

The Titans would continue play against the Blugolds the following day, this time with LJ Waco taking the mound for his fourth start of the season.

UWO jumped out to a 1-0 first inning lead after an RBI from McNamara. The Titans then followed with a three-run second inning that featured Shiu scoring on a passed ball, Max scoring on a balk and Surane hitting an RBI groundout, pushing the Titans’ lead to 4-0.

After adding a run in the fourth inning, Taylor hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give the Titans a commanding 7-0 lead. 

The Blugolds finally jumped on Waco in the seventh inning when he gave up a two-run home run to Drew Salyers. The Titans however would put the game away in the eighth inning when they scored five runs in an inning that featured RBI singles by both Max and Skenandore, an RBI double by Danny Connelly, an RBI groundout by Surane and Connelly scoring on a wild pitch. This brought the Titans lead to 12-2 ending the game once again due to the 10-run rule.

Waco threw an eight inning complete game allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out nine batters and only walking one. Waco’s pitching record now stands at 3-0 for the season.

The final contest of the four game series was an offensive shootout. Aidan Trusky got the start for the Titans.

The Blugolds opened the floodgates in the top of the second when they scored two runs off an error by Surane. Two at-bats later, Johnson would hit his second home run of the weekend for the Blugolds, this time a three-run home run which gave the Blugolds a 5-0 lead.

The Titans came out swinging in the bottom half of the inning scoring four runs with RBIs by Skenandore, McKellips and Surane. McNamara later scored in the inning after an error by the Blugolds’ third baseman, cutting the Blugolds lead to 5-4.

The Blugolds tallied a run off an RBI walk in the third inning, in the bottom half of the inning Stebane responded by hitting a solo home run for UWO. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Titans were able to muster a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 6-6 after four innings of play.

No more runs were scored until the top of the seventh inning when Diego Caicedo hit a solo home run to give Eau Claire a 7-6 lead. Kirchberg answered the call for the Titans in the bottom half of the inning by hitting a two-run home run, giving UWO its first lead of the game at 8-7.

The Blugolds continued to put the pressure on in the eighth inning by scoring four runs off an RBI single, a two-RBI double and a wild pitch by Gaynor. The Titans now faced an 11-8 deficit with only six outs remaining.

The Titans were able to tie the game immediately after RBI singles from both Surane and McNamara with Surane also later scoring off a throwing error. After a scoreless inning thrown by Alex Windey, the Titans headed into the bottom of the ninth inning tied at 11-11 with a chance to walk it off.

Skenandore hit a single and advanced to second base after a single by McKellips. Surane cashed in the walk-off 12-11 victory for the Titans as he hit a single down the right field line, scoring Skenandore from second base.

Four pitchers appeared in the game for the Titans with Windey earning the win with 1.1 scoreless innings allowing zero hits and one walk.

The Titans record now stands at 10-6 overall and a perfect 4-0 to start WIAC play.

The Titans will continue WIAC play against UW-Whitewater on the road on April 6 and 7 with games being played at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day.