SAINT PETER, Minn.- UW-Oshkosh baseball will play for the 18th NCAA Division III Regional title in program history on Sunday (May 18) after defeating Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), 15-10, on the Gusties' home field.
 
The Titans (33-13), ranked 25th in Division III by D3baseball.com and 21st by the American Baseball Coaches Association, scored in six of the nine innings including four in the first inning and three in the second, sixth, and seventh. Their line score featured 12 hits including two home runs while Oshkosh's pitchers allowed the No. 14/17 Gusties (37-9) to accumulate 15 hits, three doubles and a home run.
 
Carter Stebane (Brillion/Brillion) notched three hits in six at-bats, hitting his eighth home run of the year, scoring two runs, and recording three RBIs. Logan Schill (Pewaukee/Pewaukee) also had three RBIs on 2-for-5 at the plate with a home run and scored three times. Zach Taylor (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) and Owen Housinger (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson) each had multi-hit days while Nick Shiu (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township), Jack McKellips (Oshkosh/Lourdes Academy), and Jack McNamara (La Grange, Ill./Lyons) also registered a hit in the game.
 
Through their first two games of the Saint Peter Regional, the Titans have produced a .483 batting average with a .775 slugging percentage, 43 hits, seven doubles, two triples, and five home runs. On 49 runs, Oshkosh has registered 44 RBIs.
 
Josh Jansen (DeForest/DeForest) threw the first 5.1 innings of the regional semifinal, fanning seven Gusties including two in the first, second, and fifth innings. He allowed nine hits and three walks for six runs. Ryan Richter (Waukesha/Waukesha West) relieved him for the following 2.2 innings and registered a strikeout against two runs on three hits and two walks before Nick Rector (Sewell, N.J./Clearview Regional) finished the contest when he came in for the ninth inning. He submitted a matching line with Richter.
 
Schill took the third pitch he saw over the center field fence in the first inning, immediately putting the Titans in the lead. Oshkosh scored its second run when Stebane sent Jake Surane (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) home with a single to right center. Additional runs were added on a single by Owen Housinger (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson) and a sacrifice fly by Mason Kirchberg (DeForest/DeForest).
 
After the Titans batted around the order in the first inning, Schill led off the second inning and reached first when he was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second when Shiu singled to center field and to third on a Surane fielder's choice. The Gusties changed pitchers, and he increased Oshkosh's edge to 5-0 when the reliever threw a pickoff attempt at first base into the dirt past the first baseman. Stebane brought Surane home with a no-doubt home run to right field.
 
Gustavus Adolphus put a runner on first on an error, advancing him to second by drawing a walk and to third on a passed ball, but Jansen induced a lineout to Schill in left field to hold the Gusties off the board.
 
Back-to-back walks by Gustavus Adolphus' third pitcher led off the third inning and McKellips eventually scored on a balk that moved McNamara, who then stole third, to second base. Surane went down swinging to end the inning and the score remained 8-0 in Oshkosh's favor.
 
After holding the Titans scoreless for the first time of the game in the fourth inning, Gustavus Adolphus scored for the first time with a three-run home run. The Gusties put one more runner on the bases before Jansen forced a line out and a groundout to close out the frame.
 
The teams traded runs in the fifth inning. Surane scored McNamara on a groundout and the Gusties scored on an RBI double.
 
Between a pair of three-run innings for Oshkosh in the sixth and seventh innings, the Gusties got two more runs put on the scoreboard with an RBI single and a fielder's choice.
 
In the sixth, the Titans scored when Schill reached on a fielder's choice and when Surane did the same along with a throwing error.
 
In the seventh, Housinger legged out a leadoff bunt, moving around the basepath when McKellips singled and Kirchberg was hit by a pitch to load the bases. McNamara sent in Oshkosh's 13th run with a single, Schill sent in the 14th on a fielder's choice, and when Shiu flew out to center field, Kirchberg scored the 15th.
 
UW-Oshkosh went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings while Gustavus Adolphus scored two runs in each frame, eventually cutting a 15-6 deficit to 15-10.
 
Rector sealed the Titans' trip to the regional championship by inducing a bases loaded fielder's choice when Stebane made the play at second, throwing to Kirchberg.
 
The Gusties faced the University of Chicago (Ill.) (28-15) in the second elimination game after the Maroons took out Beloit College (30-16) in the first game of the day. Chicago won, 9-1, over Gustavus Adolphus in Saturday's third game to reach the regional championship matchup with Oshkosh.
 
Oshkosh and Chicago played in the first game of the regional on Thursday (May 17). The Titans defeated the Maroons, 34-8, for their first national championship win since 2018, setting the WIAC record in hits at 31 while marking off bests-in-a-whiles in multiple other categories. In the teams' first meeting this season in Lexington, Kentucky on March 16, Chicago won by a score of 11-2.
 
The Titans need one win to reach the super regional round for the first time in program history. The first championship game is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday and if necessary, the teams will play again approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Super regionals were introduced to Division III for the 2019 national tournament.
 
The winner of the Saint Peter Regional will face either Adrian College (30-17) or UW-Whitewater (41-5) in the best-of-three super regional round on May 23-24.