OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater will play for the right to advance to the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series for the sixth time on Friday and Saturday (May 23-24).
 
Before super regionals were added to the Division III postseason schedule in 2019, the regional tournament winners advanced directly to the World Series. Between 1984 and 2003, the Titans (34-14) and Warhawks (42-5) faced each other five times in the regional championship, all at E.J. Schneider Field in Oshkosh. The Titans were victorious in 1984, 1990, 1991, and 2003, while the Warhawks won the 1989 regional title.
 
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 25th in Division III by D3baseball.com and 21st by the American Baseball Coaches Association, won its 18th regional championship on Sunday (May 18) with a 10-2 win over the University of Chicago (Ill.) in Saint Peter, Minnesota.
 
The Titans opened their first national tournament since 2018 and second under head coach Kevin Tomasiewicz with a 34-8 win over the Maroons on Friday (May 16). The 34 runs were the most UW-Oshkosh has scored in a game since beating Huron University (S.D.) by a WIAC-record score of 43-5 to open the 2003 season. The most runs a Titan squad has scored in a national tournament game was a championship-record 36 when it defeated UW-Whitewater 36-10 in the Midwest Regional in Oshkosh on May 26, 1989. All nine starting batters recorded at least two hits and two RBIs in the contest, led by Jake Surane's (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) 4-for-5 day at the plate with four runs, nine RBIs, and a walk. He collected at least one RBI with each of his hits and registered his first career cycle. Logan Schill (Pewaukee/Pewaukee) paced the Titans with six runs scored.
 
UW-Oshkosh advanced to the regional championship with a 15-10 win over host Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) on May 17, setting up a rematch with the Maroons who came through the elimination bracket with wins over Beloit College and Gustavus Adolphus.
 
After Chicago forced the winner-takes-all game seven with a 7-3 win in the first game on May 18, the Maroons scored the first two runs in the second. Connor Walters (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) shutout Chicago across the final four innings and struck out five batters across his first career nine-inning complete game. The hitting that helped UW-Oshkosh to the championship found its stride across the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, scoring 10 unanswered runs. Carter Stebane (Brillion/Brillion) and Mason Kirchberg (DeForest/DeForest) both had four RBIs in the contest. In the seventh inning, Stebane got the Titans on the board with an RBI single and later scored the go-ahead run when Kirchberg knocked a two-RBI single. UW-Oshkosh scored three more runs in the eighth frame and four in the ninth. Three Titans were hit by six pitches during the game, led by Jack McKellips' (Oshkosh/Lourdes Academy) three. The regional title was the 18th since UW-Oshkosh joined Division III in 1979.
 
UW-Whitewater, ranked third by D3baseball.com and second by the ABCA, won its 10th regional championship by winning the Adrian, Michigan Regional last weekend. The Warhawks defeated Adrian College and Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) to advance to the regional title game. They defeated Adrian again to go undefeated in the first weekend of the tournament.
 
A 17-time participant in the World Series and the national champion in 1985 and 1994, UW-Oshkosh plays in its first Super Regional on Friday and Saturday.
 
The first game is scheduled for noon on Friday. Game two is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday and if necessary, a third game will be played approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of game two.
 
The Titans and Warhawks have met six times already this season. UW-Whitewater won the first game of the April 10 doubleheader at Prucha Field before UW-Oshkosh handed the Warhawks their first loss of the season in the nightcap by a score of 6-3. UW-Whitewater took both games in Oshkosh on April 23 to win the regular season series. The Titans, who needed just one win over the Warhawks in the WIAC Tournament championship on May 10, led by a run late in the ninth inning of the first game before UW-Whitewater tied the game with two outs and won in extra innings. The Warhawks won their ninth conference tournament title in the second game with an 11-4 victory.
 
Four-time All-WIAC First Team selection Connor Brinkman (New London/New London) leads UW-Oshkosh's pitching staff with a 2.81 earned run average this season. He is 7-2 with a save across 12 appearances and 11 starts in 80 innings of work. He holds opponents to a .206 batting average and 21 extra-base hits with a complete game shutout. Brinkman set the WIAC record in career innings pitched during Oshkosh's WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) win over UW-La Crosse on May 8 and tied Troy Cota (1982-85) for most wins in program history at 27 with a seven-inning outing against the Maroons on May 16.
 
Josh Jansen (DeForest/DeForest), Walters, and Brett Gaynor (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) have also started at least 10 games this season and have thrown at least 60 innings. Jansen is 8-2 in 11 starts with a 4.32 ERA, Walters is 6-4 in 12 starts with a 4.76 ERA, and Gaynor is 6-3 with a save in 10 starts and owns a 5.46 ERA. Gaynor leads the Titans with three complete games while Jansen has two and Walters has another.
 
Zach Taylor (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson), who was named first team All-WIAC this year, ranks second in Division III with 79 hits and 14th with 19 doubles. He paces the Titan offense with a .409 batting average, a 1.002 on-base plus slugging percentage., and 26 walks. The graduate student has hit six home runs this year, scored 42 runs, and recorded 42 RBIs. He is currently on a 18-game hitting streak, the longest for a UW-Oshkosh hitter this season.
 
Surane became the program's career leader in at-bats (789), hits (281), doubles (64), and stolen bases (89) this season. He is hitting .340 with 72 hits including 15 doubles, three triples, and four home runs with 13 walks and 12 hit-by-pitches for a .901 OPS. He has successfully stolen 20 bases on 22 attempts.
 
Schill is UW-Oshkosh's runs scored leader (56) and triples (five). He and Kirchberg have a team best eight home runs, while Kirchberg leads the Titans with 15 hit-by-pitches. Stebane ranks 25th in the nation with 31 stolen bases and is a perfect 4-for-4 in the national tournament.
 
The Titans stand at 110-54 all-time in the Division III Championship dating back to 1979, their first season affiliated with the NCAA, and 6-3 under Tomasiewicz.