The UW Oshkosh baseball team won three straight games with two wins over UW-Stevens Point on April 18 and a victory over Lakeland University on April 20.
Both UWO and Stevens Point headed into their doubleheader coming off tough weeks as the Titans had lost three of their past four contests and the Pointers lost both games of their doubleheader against UW-Stout on April 14.
LJ Waco took the mound for the Titans in the first game of the doubleheader. Waco headed into the contest with a 4-1 record, making his seventh start of the season.
The game didn’t see any scoring until the third inning when Zach Taylor hit a two-run home run to give the Titans a 2-0 lead.
The Titans continued to put on a power display in the fifth inning when Jack McNamara went deep himself with a solo home run to extend the Titans’ lead to 3-0.
The sixth inning was a big one for the Titans as Brenden Max got the scoring started in the inning for UWO with an RBI single up the middle that scored Mason Kirchberg from third base.
McNamara struck again in the following at-bat by hitting a two-RBI single to right field, doubling the Titans lead to 6-0.
Taylor hit his second home run of the game in the seventh inning, this one also a two-run shot to grow the Titans’ lead to a commanding 8-0 lead.
The Pointers were able to put up three runs in the eighth inning but it proved to be too late as the Titans secured a 8-3 victory the next inning.
Waco earned the victory on the mound for the Titans, improving his record to 5-1 after throwing eight innings giving up three runs on six hits while striking out 14 batters. The 14 strikeouts from Waco was his highest of the season. Aaron Huibregtse came in for the Titans in the ninth inning and struck out the side to end the game.
Connor Brinkman made his eighth start of the season for the Titans in game two of the doubleheader, heading into the game with a 3-2 record.
The Titans jumped on the pointers earlier in the contest with a three run first inning. Jake Surane put the Titans on the board with an RBI single, then Taylor tallied another run for the Titans with an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Surane scored off an error to cap off the three-run inning by the Titans
Braydon Skenandore kept the bats rolling with a lead-off home run in the second inning to push the Titans’ lead to 4-0.
Max hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, scoring Jack McKellips from second. In the fifth inning, Taylor hit his third home run of the series, this one a solo home-run to extend the lead to 6-0. McKellips scored off a wild pitch in the sixth inning for the Titans’ final run of the game, making the score 7-0.
The Pointers scored at least a run in each of the last three innings, but their late push would prove to be too late in back-to-back games as the Titans held on for a 7-4 victory.
Brinkman earned the victory, improving his record to 4-2. Brinkman threw a complete game giving up four runs on six hits while striking out seven batters.
Connor Walters took the mound against Lakeland University on April 20 for his sixth start of the 2024 campaign.
The bats were active early for the Titans. Carter Stebane got the action started for the Titans with a two-run home run, Mason Kirchberg then followed a few at-bats later with a two-run home run of his own to give the Titans a 4-0 lead after one inning.
Lakeland responded with two runs of their own in the second inning, however the Titans one-upped Lakeland by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Surane hit an RBI sacrifice fly which was followed by a two-RBI double by Kirchberg.
Danny Connelly scored on a fielder’s choice to start off the third inning for the Titans, whose lead now stood at 8-2. Nick Shiu hit a two-RBI double later in the inning that scored Surane and McKellips. Kirchberg brought home two runs once again with a two-RBI double to extend the Titans’ lead to 12-2.
After a solo home run by Lakeland in the sixth inning, the Titans responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Grant Gill came through with an RBI sacrifice fly that scored Chris Callas. Stebane capped off the inning with an RBI double to extend the lead to 14-3.
Gill recorded his second RBI of the game when he grounded into a double play that allowed Connelly to score from third base. Riley Pfeiffer was the last to add to the scoreboard with an RBI double to secure the Titans’ 16-3 victory.
Connor Walters improved his record to 3-3 after throwing for six innings allowing three runs on five hits and striking out five batters. Parker Thompson, Alex Windey and Brett Gaynor combined for three innings of scoreless relief for the Titans while only giving up one-hit as a unit.
The Titans record stood at 16-13 overall and 9-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, maintaining fourth place in the standings, heading into their game against Carthage College.
The Titans traveled to Kenosha on April 24 to face Carthage College in a non-conference game. Visit the UWO athletics website for results.
The Titans will continue WIAC play on April 27 and 28 with two sets of doubleheaders against UW-Stout with games taking place at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. both days at Alumni Field.
