UW-Stevens Point overcame a deficit of five runs and UW-Whitewater eight to defeat and eliminate UW-Oshkosh from the WIAC Baseball Championship on Saturday (May 11) in Whitewater.

UW-Oshkosh (23-14) opened the tournament by scoring four runs in the first inning of its game with UW-Stevens Point (34-8). The Titans extended their lead to 5-0 before the Pointers scored three runs in the fourth inning and six in the sixth to take a 9-6 advantage. UW-Stevens Point added a run in the seventh inning before UW-Oshkosh closed the scoring with two runs in the eighth.

UW-Oshkosh scored quickly against regular-season champion UW-Whitewater (34-6) as well. The Titans tallied five runs in the first inning and three in the second to build an 8-0 lead. UW-Whitewater scored in each of the next five innings as it rallied back with 17 straight runs. UW-Oshkosh broke UW-Whitewater's scoring spree with a tally in the ninth inning.

Against UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh built a 4-0 lead as Michael Swift (So. • Kenosha) hit a run-scoring single and Bobby Kachel (Jr. • La Crosse) a three-run homer in the first inning. The Titans increased their advantage to 5-0 on Doug Beattie's (Sr. • Escanaba, Mich.) fourth-inning sacrifice fly.

UW-Stevens Point, ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, sliced its deficit with three runs in the fourth inning. The Pointers scored on hits by Sean Gerber, Jimmy Coady and Casey Barnes.

Following a solo home run by Swift in the fifth inning, UW-Stevens Point exploded for six runs on six hits in the sixth. The inning featured a two-run home run by Bobby Gregorich and a bases-loaded triple from Ryan Schilter.

UW-Stevens Point upped its lead to 10-6 on a run-scoring single by Clint Rose in the seventh inning.

UW-Oshkosh scored two unearned runs in the eighth inning, but went down quietly in the ninth.

The Titans total 11 hits, including two each by Swift, Neil Hebert (So. • Stanley) and Tyler Kamps (Sr. • Appleton). UW-Stevens Point compiled 15 hits, including three each by Barnes, Rose and Schilter.

Joe Pavlovich (So. • Denmark) took the loss after pitching the first six innings for the Titans. He allowed nine runs and 13 hits before being relieved by Peter Jewell (Fr. • Muskego) in the seventh inning.  

JP Feyereisen was the winning pitcher for UW-Stevens Point. He battled through the first seven innings and allowed six runs and eight hits. Jacob Herbst came on and earned the save by retiring the last five UW-Oshkosh batters.

Against third-ranked UW-Whitewater, UW-Oshkosh stunned the Warhawks by scoring five runs in the first inning and three runs in the second. The first inning featured a three-run homer by Swift and a run-scoring single by Hebert. Michael Polcyn (So. • Ripon) belted a two-run dinger for the Titans in the second inning.

UW-Whitewater ended a string of 13 scoreless innings on Casey Power's two-run double in the fourth. The Warhawks then obtained a two-run homer from Dylan Friend and run-scoring hits by Mikol Pierce and Power in the fifth inning to cut their deficit to 8-6.

Following a solo homer by Friend in the sixth inning, UW-Whitewater took the lead for good by scoring five runs in both the seventh and eighth frames. Friend had a two-run single in the seventh inning, while Michael Gonzalez had a two-run triple in the eighth.

UW-Oshkosh closed its scoring on Brock Guetzke's (Sr. • Hartford) single in the ninth. Guetzke had three of the Titans' 12 hits in the contest, while Beattie, Hebert and Swift owned two each.

UW-Whitewater pounded out 22 hits, including five by Friend, four by Fon and three by both Gonzalez and Power. Friend finished the game with six runs batted in.

James Lacy (Jr. • Shawano), who replaced starter Travis Sindles (Jr. • Twin Lakes) in the fifth inning, took the pitching loss for the Titans. Lacy allowed six runs and five hits in 1.1 innings. Sindles yielded six runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings. Ian Zahn (So. • Fond du Lac) and Matt Sabel (Fr. • Beaver Dam) combined to hurl the final three frames.

Tom Kerndt lasted just four batters as the UW-Whitewater starter. He gave up four runs and two hits before being relieved by Matt Roberts. Roberts got all three outs in the first inning, but was replaced in the second after allowing a total of four runs and five hits.

Justin Mortensen kept UW-Whitewater alive by holding UW-Oshkosh scoreless for the next six innings. He allowed just three hits during his seven innings of work.

UW-Whitewater will play UW-La Crosse (19-20) in an elimination game on Sunday (May 12). UW-Stevens Point is the lone unbeaten team in the tournament.