The UW-Oshkosh baseball team (2-2) ranked No. 19 in the nation, split a four-game trip to Florida to start the season during the first week of March.
The Titans threw the program’s 13th no-hitter in a dominant season opener, winning 10-0 against Concordia College (Minnesota) (4-2) on March 6, in Winter Haven, Florida.
Connor Walters earned a win after shoving for six shutout innings, facing 21 hitless batters, striking out seven and walking four. Joe Richardson pitched the seventh inning, allowing zero hits, striking out one and walking one before the game concluded due to the mercy rule.
UWO scored early and often, putting up five runs in the first three innings. Owen Housinger had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, then next inning, Aaron Davis singled in two runs, and in the fourth, Brenden Max and Jack McNamara both singled in a run. Davis collected his third RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, before the game broke open in the seventh with Braydon Skenandore driving in a run. Gavin Persson drew a bases-loaded walk and Danny Connely finished it off with a two-run single.
The Titans had ten hits, three walks, six strikeouts and seven stolen bases. Max, Skenandore and Connelly all picked up three hits and combined for five runs batted in. McNamara had two hits, Persson had a hit, Cash Kaczmarek scored two runs and walked twice and David Wick scored a run as a pinch runner.
Oshkosh’s baseball team lost 2-1 after wasting a strong pitching performance by Josh Jansen against Concordia University of Chicago (3-6) in Auburndale, Florida, on March 6.
The Titans jumped to an early one-nothing lead after a two-out rally started by Persson and Wick, who accepted their walks, which led to Davis hitting a run-scoring single.
The score would remain that way until the top of the ninth. Jansen cruised for eight dominant innings, allowing three hits, fanning eight and walking none. Jansen came out for the ninth, where he immediately allowed two hits and was replaced by Ryan Richter.
Richter allowed a single to load the bases, struck out the next batter, then a run scored on an error by Wick, and a fielder’s choice by the next batter. Richter eventually got out of it by striking out the next batter. UWO went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Oshkosh mustered only two hits by Davis and Jack McKellips, walked five times, including two each by Housinger and Wicks.
UWO improved to 2-1 after a highly contested 3-2 win against the College St. Scholastica (Minnesota) (3-3) behind the back of Schill’s three steals on March 7, in Auburndale, Florida.
The Titans did damage early, scoring two runs in the second inning. Schill’s legs scratched the first run across the board. He singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Max walked, made it to second on a wild pitch, and went to third because Davis and Connelly walked, eventually scoring an unearned run because of an error. The Saints battled back and tied the game after a pair of run-scoring singles in the fourth and fifth innings.
However, Oshkosh persevered after Schill reached on a hit by pitch in the eighth inning, prompting him to steal second and third, forcing the Saints catcher to make an error and allowing Schill to score the go-ahead run.
The UWO baseball team had seven hits, five walks and 10 strikeouts. Davis and McKellips led the way with two hits each. Housinger had a hit and two walks and Persson and Schill each had a hit. Baris Brau sent six solid innings with five punchouts, two free passes and two runs allowed. The bullpen was lights out with Hoyt Keller, Benje Hencke and Ben Buehring going three shutout innings with a combined three strikeouts, zero walks and zero runs. Keller earned the win and Buehring closed it out for the save.
The Titans fell 9-4 against the University of Mount Union (Ohio) (9-2) after the pitching staff allowed 12 walks in Auburndale, Florida, on March 8.
Oshkosh gave up three runs in the first inning, but rallied by scoring two in the second from a single by Davis. That was as close as the game would get because the Purple Raiders scored six runs between the fifth and eighth innings. UWO scored in the sixth from a single by Skenandore and in the ninth when Evan Olsen also singled.
Richter started the game, only recording one out while allowing three runs on four hits and two walks. Richardson ate up three and two-thirds innings while striking out eight, walking one, and allowing one run to score. Keller, Colten Kachinsky, Parker Thompson, and Kael Johns allowed five runs to score in the last four innings of the game.
The offense got nine hits, but struck out 12 times and left eight runners on base. Persson had the only multiple-hit game, picking up two hits, while Davis, Housinger, Olsen, McKellips, Kaczmarek, Connelly, and Skenandore all had one.
The Titans will play three games this week, facing No. 17 Webster University (Missouri) at 3 p.m. on March 13, Milwaukee School of Engineering at 4 p.m. on March 14, and Hanover College (Indiana) at 11 a.m. on March 15.
