Box Score Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team advanced to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament (presented by Culver's) Championship with a 9-8 come-from-behind win over UW-Oshkosh in 10 innings at UW-Stevens Point's Zimmerman Field. The Eagles, ranked 15th on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 30-9 and will play in the WIAC championship game on Saturday, May 13 at 10:00 a.m. 

This marks the seventh time in the past 10 WIAC tournaments that the Eagles have advanced to the Championship game, winning titles in 2012 and 2016. The Eagles fell to UW-Stevens Point in 2013 and to UW-Whitewater in 2014, 2017 and 2019 in the championship game.  The tournament was not held in 2018 and 2020. Along with the titles in 2012 and 2016, the Eagles captured the WIAC Championship in 2000. 

UW-Oshkosh, the tournament's fourth seed, will now play three-seed UW-Whitewater in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m. Friday. The winner of the Titans and the Warhawks needs two wins over UWL to capture the tournament title. If a second championship game is necessary it will be played Saturday, May 13 at 2:00 p.m. UW-Oshkosh drops to 25-14 overall. 

The Eagles jumped on the Titans right away as they got back-to-back solo home runs from Chris VandenHeuvel and Jack Olver to lead off the first inning. It was VandenHeuvel's fourth of the season while it was Olver's seventh. The Titans would take the lead in the third inning, 3-2, as they got an RBI bunt single from Ethan Schreier and back-to-back home runs by Matt Scherman and Zach Taylor. Then in the fourth inning, UW-Oshkosh scored three more runs on fourth hits to extend their lead. Connor Giusti would hit a 2-run home run to put the Titans up 5-2 while Scherrman hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2. UW-Oshkosh would extend their lead to 8-2 on a two-run scoring single by Chase Marsh in the top of the fifth inning. 

UWL would add single runs in the sixth and seventh inning to cut their deficit to 8-4. Tim Urlaub reached on a throwing error in the sixth and went to third on a double by George Seaman. Urlaub would then score on a sacrifice fly by Jack Moran. Olver hit his second home run of the game to lead off the seventh to make it 8-4. 

The game entered the bottom of the ninth with the score still 8-4 as Moran led off the inning with a walk. VandenHeuvel then doubled which scored Moran to make it 8-5. Olver followed that up with a double of his own to score VandenHeuvel while Mac Born's double scored Olver to make it 8-7. After an Eagle strikeout and fly out, Logan Pye singled through the left side to score Born and tie the game at 8. 

UWL's Caleb Matl would come on to pitch the tenth inning and he retired the side in order with a strikeout, fly out and ground out. In the Eagle's half of the tenth inning, Seaman singled to lead off and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Moran. VandenHeuvel then recorded his fourth hit of the game, a single through the right side of the infield, which scored Seaman from second to give the Eagles a walk-off win. 

Offensively, UWL finished with 16 hits including four each from VandenHeuvel and Olver while Born and Seaman each had three. Olver also finished with three RBI and three runs scored while VandenHeuvel had three RBI and two runs scored. 

Matl (3-0) earned the win as he came on in relieve of Tucker Bouche. Owen Deprez started the game and went 3.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Mitchel Fassbender came in for Deprez and gave up one run on one hit and one walk in 0.2 innings. Bouche came on in the fourth inning and went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. 

The Titans had 13 hits as a team including three apiece from Giusti and Jake Surane. Scherrman was 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBI and one run scored. Logan King (2-3) suffered the loss for the Titans as he pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Connor Walters got the start on the mound for UW-Oshkosh as he gave up four runs (three earned) on nine hits, one walk and one strikeout.