The UW Oshkosh baseball team went 1-3 in their weekend series against UW-Platteville on May 4 and 5 with the scores 5-4, 11-1, 14-4 and 6-5.
The Titans came into the series after the team split with UW-Stout. Platteville came into the series having won four of their past five games.
Connor Brinkman got the start in the first game. He allowed nine hits and a walk with six strikeouts in eight innings.
Leading off in the top of the first, Jake Surane hit a two-run home run sending in Jack McNamara for 2 RBIs.
The second inning also had some action. Junior Mason Kirchberg led the inning with a solo shot over the left field wall. Then Braydon Skenandore singled to right field. After advancing to second on a passed ball, he scored off a Brendan Max double. Those two runs made the score 4-0 Titans.
The Pioneers then scored one run in the fourth and fifth innings off RBI singles. An RBI triple scored two more. The Titans couldn’t put any more runs on the board, so they finished the game with a score of 5-4.
Sophomore Connor Walters got the nod for the second game. He only allowed two hits and a walk with five strikeouts in the seven-inning complete game.
Surane again produced a first inning two-run home run, scoring Max. In the top of the second inning, Max hit an RBI single to center, scoring Owen Housinger, sending Skenandore to third base and Carter Stebane to second.
The Pioneers scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the third inning with a sacrifice fly to center.
The fireworks came out in the fifth, with a Kirchberg RBI single scoring Surane and advancing Nick Shiu, who then scored on an RBI bunt from Housinger. Stebane followed that up with a double over the center fielder’s head, scoring Housinger and Kirchberg. Then, Skenandore scored on a Max RBI single to center, and Stebane scored on a sacrifice fly from McNamara, ending the inning with the score sitting at 9-1.
The sixth inning brought the Titans’ final two runs. Housinger hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Shiu, then Skenandore hit another sacrifice fly to center to score Zach Taylor. Due to the 10-run rule, the Titans won 11-1 in the seventh inning.
The Titans came back the next day to play another two games, with Brett Gaynor on the bump. He allowed a run on six hits in four innings with Aaron Huibregtse coming into the fifth. He was given the loss after allowing five runs and five hits and a walk.
Game one was scoreless until Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to score Surane. Then, Danny Connelly scored Shiu on an RBI line out.
In the fifth, Stebane scored on an RBI groundout by Skenandore. Then, Surane hit a solo shot to left field, making the score 4-0.
Platteville scored in both the fifth and sixth innings, then their bats exploded, scoring eight runs in the seventh to make the score 11-4.
After stranding two on-base in the top of the eighth, the Pioneers scored three runs to end the game right there due to the 10-run rule.
Sophomore Aidan Trusky got the start after the loss. He pitched four innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, with two walks and a strikeout.
The Titans struck first on a Stebane sacrifice fly to center, scoring Kirchberg. The Titans struck again after Surane walked, stole second and reached third on a throwing error. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Taylor.
In the fifth inning with three walks, Riley Pfeiffer, Taylor, and McNamara all scored, making the score 5-0 Titans.
The Pioneers scored one in the bottom of the fifth, then put up four runs in the bottom of the seventh off a two RBI single and a sacrifice fly. Platteville then put another run on in the eighth making the score 6-5 Pioneers.
The Titans could not rally anymore, which ended the game with their second loss of the day. Alex Windey received the loss, moving his record to 1-3.
The Titans finish the regular season with a 19-19 record overall and 12-12 in conference. With the Titans’ win this weekend, they secure the fourth seed in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament and begin the postseason facing No. 1 UW-Whitewater at Prucha Field on May 9 at 12 p.m.
