The UW Oshkosh baseball team heads into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament with an eight-game winning streak after sweeping the UW-Stout Blue Devils over the weekend.
“This last weekend, and the weekend before against Stevens Point, it has been really fun to coach this group,” said Kevin Tomaziewicz, who is in his 12th season as head coach of UW Oshkosh baseball.
On Friday, May 2, the Titans and Blue Devils faced off in their first double-header this season, where the Titans took game one 12-5 and game two 5-4.
On Saturday, May 3, the Titans’ bats were hot as they scored 16 runs in game one and 17 in game two, which lasted seven innings. The Titans won the first game 16-11 and the second game 17-3.
Oshkosh will face UW-La Crosse on Thursday, May 8, for their first contest in the WIAC tournament, hosted by UW-Whitewater at Prucha Field. The Eagles have won their last nine contests and have not lost since April 23 against UW-Platteville.
“I think the guys realize the importance of this weekend, but they also realize they can beat them,” Tomaziewicz said.
The Titans and Eagles have faced each other in the last three WIAC tournaments. The Titans won 11-4 in 2022 at Prucha Field in Whitewater. In 2023, the Eagles won 9-8 in 10 innings when UW-Stevens Point hosted the tournament at Zimmerman Field. The Eagles won in 2024 with a score of 17-9, when the tournament returned to Prucha Field at UWW.
“I think we’re a resilient team, we have gone through a lot of ups and downs this season,” said Jake Surane, senior center fielder for UWO. “We have been put in a lot of tough situations being down in games, and we have been finding ways to win.”
The performance at the plate from the Titan lineup and routine plays in the field have hoisted the Titans to eight straight wins heading into the postseason.
“We don’t need to have any gold glove plays out there,” said Zach Taylor, senior first baseman for UWO. “Just everyone on the offense continuing to produce, the pitching staff doing their thing, the bullpen doing their thing, and keeping it simple.”
On top of the high averages at the plate, the base running has been another factor this year for UWO.
“We’ve been really good on the basepaths this year with our three main base stealers,” Tomazsiewicz said. “When those guys get on it forces pitchers to quicken up to the plate, elevate the ball, and we see more fastballs.”
Surane has stolen 18 bases of 20 attempted this season, behind Logan Schill (20-24) and Carter Stebane (27-28).
The Titans have defeated all WIAC teams this season except the Eagles, who won both doubleheaders at Tiedemann Field on April 5 and April 6.
However, the club did have their work cut out for them before the game, as Tiedemann Field was rained on heavily before that series began.
“We took out about 9,000 gallons of water off our field two days before the game,” Tomasiewicz said. “This week we won’t have to do it.”
The neutral site and cooperative weather tees up an exciting matchup between two heavy-hitting ball clubs looking to keep their winning streaks alive.
The first pitch between the Titans and Eagles is set for 3 p.m. on May 8.
