Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader with UW-Oshkosh Friday afternoon at Tidemann Field at Alumni Stadium. UWL won game one, 8-2, while UW-Oshkosh took the nightcap 13-3 in eight innings.
The Eagles, ranked 18th on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, are now 23-7 overall and 14-4 in the WIAC while the Titans, ranked 16th on D3baseball.com are also 23-7 overall and 14-4 in the conference.
Mac Born hit his fourth home run of the season.
UW-Oshkosh took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in Friday's opener. Jake Surane was hit-by-pitch to start the inning and went to third on a groundout. He then scored on Matt Scherrman's RBI groundout for the game's first run. UWL tallied a pair of runs in the top of the second.
Jack Olver hit an infield single with one out and went to second as
Ty Hamilton walked.
George Seaman then delivered a two-out double scoring Olver and Hamilton to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
Anthony Vivian's solo home run in the top of the third gave UWL a 3-1 lead. It was Vivian's 14th home run of the season, third-most in single-season school history.
Current teammate
Mac Born hit a school record 16 home runs in 2022.
Vinnie Rottino ranks second in single-season home runs, finishing with 15 in 2002.
The Titans cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third on Scherrman's solo home run. Surane had singled to start the inning, but was out on a double play to center fielder
Eli Roberts.
UWL extended its lead to 5-2 with runs in the sixth and seventh. Born's solo home run in the sixth gave the Eagles a two-run lead and Roberts scored on
Logan Pye's sacrifice fly in the seventh. Roberts opened the inning with a double and went to third on a fly out before scoring on Pye's sacrifice fly.
The Eagles scored three times on four hits in the ninth. Roberts doubled with one out and scored on Pye's two-out RBI single for a 6-2 lead. Vivian walked and Born's run-scoring single knocked in Pye to make it 7-2. Olver followed with a single to score Vivian.
Isaiah Katz (4-0) earned the win in Friday's first game, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing seven hits, two runs and one walk while striking out two. UWL finished with 13 hits as Born went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run. Roberts went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs while Olver finished 2-for-5 with a run and RBI. Pye had two RBI and Vivian scored twice.
Connor Brinkman (7-2) took the loss for UW-Oshkosh. He went 8.0 innings, allowing nine hits, five runs and one walk with five strikeouts. The Titans had seven hits in the opener with Surane going 2-for-3.
In the nightcap, UW-Oshkosh got on the board first as it took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Scherrman in the first inning. UWL would get the run back in the second inning as Born singled and advanced to third on a double by Hamilton. Born would then score on a sacrifice fly by
Tim Urlaub. The Titans took the lead back in the bottom half of the second on a groundout by Ethan Schreier to lead 2-1.
Jack Moran doubled to lead off the third inning and moved to third on a single by Olver. With two outs, Moran scored to tie the game at 2-2 on a wild pitch.
George Seaman a had double and RBI in Friday's opener.
In the bottom of the third, Nicholas Shiu tripled and scored on throwing error to give UW-Oshkosh a 3-2 lead. The Titans would take a 6-2 lead in the fifth inning on a three-run home run by Mason Kirchberg. The Titans would extend their lead by scoring two runs on three hits in the seventh inning to make it 8-2. The Eagles would get a run back in the top of the eighth inning as Vivian doubled and scored on a two-out single by Hamilton. That would be all the scoring for UWL as UW-Oshkosh scored five runs in the bottom half of the eighth for the final score of 13-3.
Owen Anderson (3-4) suffered the loss for UWL as he allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and four walks while striking out four in 4.2 innings of work. Offensively, UWL finished with 10 hits including two each from Olver and Hamilton.
Connor Walters (2-0) earned the win for UW-Oshkosh as he went 7.2 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits and one walk with three strikeouts. As a team, the Titans finished with 15 hits including five players finishing with multiple hits. Zach Taylor finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs.
The teams will play another doubleheader Saturday, April 29 at noon.
