The UW Oshkosh baseball team lost three of four games against UW-La Crosse by the scores of 10-7, 6-1 and 17-15 while winning one game by the score of 17-6 on April 13 and 14.
The Titans headed into the series against La Crosse after splitting a double header versus UW-Stevens Point on April 10, winning one game 7-1 and losing the other 14-2.
LJ Waco made his sixth start of the season for UWO while also boasting a 4-0 record on the mound heading into the contest.
The Eagles found the board early on by scoring a run off a passed ball in the second inning and followed it with a solo home run by George Seaman to take a 2-0 lead over the Titans.
The game remained quiet until the fifth inning when the Eagles found the board again off an RBI single. In the following inning, the Eagles’ first baseman, Seaman, hit a three-run home run to give the Eagles a commanding 6-0 lead.
The Titans found a way to cut into the lead in the seventh inning as Nick Shiu hit a two-RBI double to cut the deficit to four. However, the Eagles immediately responded in the bottom of the inning with a pair of home runs, a solo home run by Chris VandenHeuvel and a second three-run home run by Seaman. This was Seaman’s third of the game. To give the Eagles a 10-2 lead.
UWO didn’t go down without a fight as they were able to plate a big eighth inning starting with an RBI single by Jake Surane, followed by an RBI double by Jack McNamara to score Surane from first base. The following at-bat had Zach Taylor hit an RBI single to score McNamara and Mason Kirchberg hit a two-run home run to cap off the inning, cutting the lead to 10-7.
The late surge from the Titans proved to be too late as they fell to the score of 10-7. Waco caught his first loss of the season, dropping his record to 4-1 after pitching five innings giving up five earned runs on seven hits while striking out seven batters.
UWO’s Connor Brinkman made his seventh start of the season in game two of the series while sporting a 3-1 record heading into the contest.
The Eagles jumped on the Titans early with a two-RBI double by Anthony Vivian in the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead over the Titans.
The scoring remained quiet until the sixth inning when the Eagles paired RBI singles to extend their lead to 4-0.
Braydon Skenandore found the board for the Titans for the only time of the contest when he belted a solo home run in the eighth inning, his first home run of the year.
The Eagles capped off their victory with a two-run bottom of the eighth to take a 6-1 lead, and Tyler Schmitt of the Eagles closed out the ninth inning to secure a complete game victory.
Brinkman recorded the loss in the contest, throwing six innings giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out seven batters and walking four. Aaron Huibregtse also pitched for the Titans, giving up two runs on three hits in two innings of work.
The Titans looked to right the ship on Sunday against the Eagles when they had Connor Walters take the mound for the fifth time this season.
The Titans were able to be the ones to grab an early lead this time around as a pair of RBIs from Kirchberg and Carter Stebane gave the Titans a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
The Titans continued their scoring onslaught in the third inning. The Titans grabbed two runs after a throwing error by the Eagles and then scored another run on a bases loaded walk. Stebane capped off the four-run inning with an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Titans a 6-0 lead.
After giving up a run in the bottom of the third inning, the Titans responded with a run off an RBI single by Kirchberg. The Eagles put up two more runs in the fourth inning to cut the Titans’ lead to 7-3.
The Titans found another big inning at the plate in the fifth inning when Surane kicked off the scoring with a two-RBI double, Surane later scored in the inning off a throwing error by the Eagles. Taylor put a cap to the inning for the Titans with a two-run home run, extending the Titans’ lead to 12-3.
The Eagles put up two more runs over the next two innings, including one from the fourth home run in series by Seaman.
The Titans put an end to the contest with a five-run seventh inning highlighted by a solo home run by Taylor, a two-RBI single by Stebane and a two-RBI single by Brenden Max. After a scoreless bottom half of the inning the game ended due to the 10-run rule with a score of 17-6.
Walters earned his second win on the season for the Titans giving up four earned runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work. Josh Jansen also pitched for the Titans without giving up a hit in 1.1 innings. The Titans forced six Eagles pitchers to take the mound in the seven-inning contest.
Jansen made his second start of the season after throwing 1.1 hitless innings in game one of the doubleheader. The final game of the series ended up being the most chaotic of them all.
Shiu started the action at the plate for the Titans with an RBI single to put the first run on the board. Later in the first inning, Kirchberg hit a three-run home run to give the Titans an early 4-0 lead.
After the Eagles cut into the lead to make it 4-2, the Titans put up three more runs in the second inning. Shiu recorded his second RBI single in the game as Taylor followed with a two-RBI single.
The scoring continued in the third inning as Surane hit a three-run home run to give the Titans a commanding 10-2 lead in the third inning.
The Titans picked up another run in the fifth inning. However, the Eagles had a scoring outburst to make this a game. A four-run inning highlighted by two RBI singles and a two-run home run cut the Titans’ lead to 11-6.
Kirchberg responded in the sixth inning with a two-run home run to make the lead 13-6. The Eagles then responded with four runs over the next two innings to make the score 13-10 entering the ninth inning.
The ninth inning was promising for the Titans at the plate when Kirchberg hit a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 15-10 with only three outs remaining. However, the Eagles put up four runs via an RBI double and a three-run home run by Vanden Heuvel. The game came to a close when Seaman hit his fifth home run of the series, this time a three-run shot to give the Eagles a 17-15 victory.
The Titans record now stands at 13-13 and 7-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, maintaining fourth place in the WIAC standings.
UWO will continue play with a doubleheader against UW-Stevens Point on April 18 and one game against Lakeland University on April 20 at Alumni Stadium.
