SAINT PETER, Minn.- UW-Oshkosh baseball began its return to the NCAA Division III Championship with a bang.
In their first national tournament appearance since 2018, the Titans (32-13) dismantled the University of Chicago (Ill.) (26-15) with a 34-8 victory, tallying 31 hits including seven doubles, two triples, and three home runs. All nine starting batters recorded at least two hits and a pair of RBIs.
Oshkosh's 34 runs are the most since it set the Division III Championship record with a 36-10 victory over UW-Whitewater in the Oshkosh Regional on May 26, 1989. The Titans set the WIAC record with 31 hits, besting their previous league record of 30 hits against Huron University (S.D.) on March 15, 2003. The 26-run margin of victory tied the highest for Oshkosh in the national tournament, tying the 1989 win over Whitewater.
The Titans and Maroons met earlier this season in Lexington, Kentucky on March 16. Oshkosh fell, 9-2. The 20-plus run victory tied the season series at a game apiece.
Jake Surane (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) led the Titans at the plate with his first career cycle, tallying a personal best nine RBIs on a grand slam, an RBI single, a two-RBI triple, and a two-RBI double. He also scored four runs and drew a walk.
Carter Stebane (Brillion/Brillion) had a team best five hits including an RBI double, a two-RBI triple, and an RBI single, notching five runs of his own and stealing a bag.
Logan Schill (Pewaukee/Pewaukee) scored the most runs for Oshkosh on Friday with six. He hit 4-for-7, all singles.
Zach Taylor (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) also had four hits with a double while
Nick Shiu (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and
Jack McNamara (La Grange, Ill./Lyons) both recorded three hits and
Brenden Max (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville),
Owen Housinger (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson),
Jack McKellips (Oshkosh/Lourdes Academy), and
Mason Kirchberg (DeForest/DeForest) each collected two hits.
Connor Brinkman (New London/New London) started on the mound for Oshkosh, throwing seven innings with a season high 10 strikeouts, including two in the first, second, fifth, and seventh innings, against five runs on 10 hits and two walks. With his seventh win of the season, Brinkman tied the program record with career wins at 27. Troy Cota pitched 27 victories for the Titans from 1982-85. Head coach
Kevin Tomasiewicz holds the league's career record in wins at 35; he pitched for UW-Whitewater from 2002-05. Brinkman also moved into fifth place in the WIAC in career strikeouts, currently holding 266.
Aaron Huibgretse and
Michael Hughes (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) pitched the eighth and ninth innings. Huibregtse allowed two runs on five hits and Hughes fanned one batter while allowing a run on two hits and a walk.
The Maroons claimed the lead in the top of the first inning with an RBI single to center field, however it would not last long as the Titans scored 10 times to build the first step of their substantial lead.
Schill knocked a leadoff single to center field and scored when Shiu came to the plate and doubled down the left field line. Oshkosh scored the rest of its runs in the inning on Stebane's double to right center, Housinger's double to center, McKellips' single to left, Kirchberg's two-run homer to center, and Surane's base-clearing slam to right field.
In the top of the second inning, Chicago tallied its last runs off Brinkman with an RBI single and a three-run home run to cut the deficit to 10-5.
After a scoreless third inning in which neither team had more than four plate appearances, Stebane reached on a fielder's choice in the fourth. He moved to second with a stolen base and to third on a balk before dashing home on a wild pitch.
The Titans' bats got hot again in the fifth inning, putting 11 more runs on the board before the Maroons could record the third out. Kirchberg was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on Schill's single to center field. Both score when Shiu doubled to right center and Shiu reached home on Surane's RBI single. With Taylor and Surane on first and second and one out on the scoreboard, Stebane tripled to right center, his second of the year. Housinger then hit a sacrifice fly to send Stebane home and make the score 17-5. McNamara added three runs with a home run to right center and Surane helped the Titans reach 20 runs for the first time this season by increasing Oshkosh's edge to 22-5 with a two-RBI triple.
UW-Oshkosh picked up where it left off in the sixth inning by scored eight more times to reach 30 runs for the for just the third time in program history. Along with the 36 runs against the Warhawks in 1989, the Titans registered a WIAC record 43 runs against Huron when they last set the hits in a game record. Kirchberg scored Stebane with a double, McNamara scored Housinger with a single, Taylor doubled down the left field line to score three runs, and Stebane and Taylor reached home when Housinger singled and advanced to second on an error.
In the seventh inning, the Titans tallied their final four runs on Surane's two-RBI double and RBI singles from Taylor and Stebane.
Oshkosh relieved Brinkman with Huibregtse at the beginning of the eighth inning. He allowed a pair of runs on a groundout and a single before stranding runners on second and third. McKellips hit a leadoff single in the bottom half of the inning, however the Maroons thwarted the Titans' attempt to add more runs to the board.
Hughes threw the entire ninth inning and striking out the second out while Chicago scored its eighth run on a groundout.
The Titans will face Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) (37-7) on Saturday (May 17) at noon. Oshkosh holds a 3-1 all-time record against the Gusties, first facing them in 2005 and most recently in 2010.
The Gusties held off Beloit College (30-15), 7-5, in Friday's second game. The winner of the game between Oshkosh and Gustavus Adolphus earns a spot in Sunday's regional championship while the lose can still reach the championship with a win over either Chicago or Beloit on 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
