The UW Oshkosh baseball team split four games against UW-Stout on April 26 and 27, winning two games by the scores of 10-0 and 14-4 and losing two games by scores of 6-4 and 4-2.
UWO came into the four-game series following a loss against Carthage College on April 24 in a high-scoring 12-10 contest. Stout came into the series following a high scoring win against St. Mary’s University (Minnesota), winning by a score of 13-12 in extra innings.
Connor Brinkman got the start for the Titans in game one of the series, looking to improve his 4-2 record on the mound this season.
The scoring got started in the second inning when Oshkosh brought four runners across the plate in the inning. Mason Kirchberg hit an RBI double that scored Nick Shiu. Two at-bats later, Braydon Skenandore hit a two-RBI triple, scoring both Kirchberg and Zach Taylor. Skenandore eventually scored in the inning after advancing home off a wild pitch to make the score 4-0.
The Titans added to their lead in the third inning when Taylor hit a RBI single to make the score 5-0.
As the Titans continued to shut down Stout’s offense they would find a way to bring three more across the plate in the fifth inning. The scoring started with Taylor grounding into a double play that allowed Jack McNamara to score from third base. Kirchberg stepped up to the plate in the following at-bat and belted a two-run home run to give the Titans an 8-0 lead heading into the sixth inning.
The Titans finally put an end to the contest in the seventh inning when Shiu hit an RBI single and Jack McKellips earned an RBI off a bunt single to push the lead to 10-0. The game ended after McKellips’ RBI due to the 10-run rule.
Brinkman earned the win in the contest, pitching the full seven innings, giving up no runs on four hits and striking out five batters.
Connor Walters got the nod for the start in game two of the series for his seventh start this season.
Stout found the scoreboard early with an RBI single in the first inning to grab a 1-0 lead. The Titans responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs of their own off a throwing error by the Stout shortstop to allow Brenden Max to score from third and a wild pitch that allowed McNamara to take home plate, giving the Titans a 2-1 lead.
Both teams didn’t add to the scoreboard until the sixth inning when Stout knotted things up at 2-2 after scoring off a wild pitch from Josh Jansen.
The Titans retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Kirchberg hit an RBI single. In the following at-bat, McKellips hit a sacrifice fly to score Taylor from third base and extend UWO’s lead to 4-2.
The top of the eighth inning saw Stout put four runs on the scoreboard to retake the lead. Stout brought home two runs off a bunt and a throwing error that allowed two runners on first and second base to score. Stout’s Jack Schirpke hit a two-RBI double later in the inning to give Stout a 6-4 lead.
The Titans were not able to bring any more runners home for the rest of the game and dropped the game to the score of 6-4.
Jansen received the loss on the mound, giving up two earned runs on two hits and dropping his record to 1-2. Walters received a no-decision for his start after throwing 5.1 innings and giving up two runs on nine hits while striking out seven batters.
Senior LJ Waco, the team’s de facto ace this season, received the start in game three of the series for UWO’s senior day for potentially his last game pitching at Alumni Stadium for the Titans.
The scoring began with Stout grounding into a double play in the top of the third inning allowing the runner from third base to score to give Stout a 1-0 lead. The Titans responded in the bottom half of the inning when Skenandore pulled off the rare feat of stealing home to tie the game at 1-1.
Carter Stebane helped find the board for the Titans in the bottom of the fifth inning by hitting an RBI groundout to give the Titans a 2-1 lead. However, Stout responded immediately in the sixth inning with an RBI double and an RBI single to take a 3-2 lead.
Stout added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to push its lead to 4-2. The Titans went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the ninth, giving Stout the 4-2 victory.
Brett Gaynor got the start in the final game of the series, looking to help the Titans recover from the back-to-back losses.
Stout scored first in the contest, but not until the third inning when they scored off an RBI single by Justin Sedin.
Freshman Chris Callas in just his fourth game of the year would knot the game up at 1-1 by hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring Shiu from second base. Jake Surane hit an RBI single in the fifth inning to give the Titans their first lead of the game at 2-1.
The sixth inning saw both teams bring multiple runs home. Stout scored two runs in the top half of the inning with an RBI single and an RBI fielder’s choice to take a 3-2 lead. Kirchberg knotted things up immediately with a leadoff solo home run. The Titans then reclaimed the lead from an RBI single from McNamara, which allowed a second runner to score off a fielding error from Stout’s catcher. McNamara scored later in the inning thanks to a throwing error to make the score 6-3.
Both teams hit home runs in the seventh inning, with Stout’s coming from a solo shot by Riley Boushack to cut the Titans’ lead to 6-4. The Titans immediately extended their lead in the bottom half of the inning from Stebane’s two-run home run, making the score 8-4.
The Titans put the game away in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to a dominant display at the plate. Shiu got the scoring started with a two-RBI single. Kirchberg then brought Shiu with an RBI double to make the score 11-4. Owen Housinger got involved in the action with a two-RBI single, and later in the inning, Logan Schill scored after a failed pickoff attempt from Stout’s pitcher.
The failed pickoff attempt made the score 14-4, effectively ending the game because of the 10-run rule.
Aaron Huibregtse received the win on the mound after 2.1 innings of work and allowed one run on three hits. Gaynor received a no-decision for his start after 5.2 innings of work and allowing one run on three hits. Gaynor received a no-decision for his start after 5.2 innings of work and allowing three runs off eight hits while striking out three batters.
The Titans record now stands at 18-16 overall and 11-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference heading into their last series of the regular season.
The Titans will head to UW-Platteville to play four games in the final series of the regular season on May 3 and 4 with games starting at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday.
