WHITEWATER, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh baseball ended its season in the NCAA Division III Super Regional on Saturday (May 24) when UW-Whitewater won the winner-take-all game three at Prucha Field by a score of 10-0.
The Titans (35-16) set team records in at-bats (1,835), hits (588), stolen bases (114), and innings pitched (440.0) this year.
Connor Brinkman (New London/New London) became the all-time leader for UW-Oshkosh and the WIAC in innings pitched (309.1) and tied former Troy Cota (1982-85) for most program wins at 27.
Jake Surane (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) finished his five-year career with the Titans with program records in at-bats (801), hits (284), doubles (64), and stolen bases (89).
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 25th in the nation by
D3baseball.com and 21st by the
American Baseball Coaches Association, won 35 games for the first time since 2007 and made its 26th appearance in the Division III Championship. The Titans won a regional title for the 18th time in program history when they defeated the University of Chicago (Ill.), 10-2, to secure the Saint Peter, Minnesota Regional crown.
UW-Oshkosh forced game three of the Super Regional with a 5-2 win in the second game, however UW-Whitewater (44-6) shutout the Titans in the third game while allowing just four hits.
Logan Schill (Pewaukee/Pewaukee),
Jake Surane (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson),
Carter Stebane (Brillion/Brillion), and
Jack McKellips (Oshkosh/Lourdes Academy) all had a hit in the game. Stebane's hit was a two-out, ground-rule double in the ninth inning.
Connor Walters (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) started on the mound for Oshkosh and pitched three innings, striking out two Warhawks while allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits, a walk, and a hit batter.
Brett Gaynor (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) threw 2.2 innings and allowed four runs on six hits and three walks with a strikeout before
Ryan Richter (Waukesha/Waukesha West) tossed the following 2.2 innings. He scattered four hits for a run.
Nick Rector (Sewell, N.J./Clearview Regional) finished the game, allowing an unearned run on a hit while fanning three batters.
After a leadoff double for UW-Whitewater, Walters induced three straight outs in the air to hold the Warhawks scoreless. The Warhawks scored once in the second inning and once again in the third before opening up the deficit with a four-run fourth inning. They registered additional runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth frames while Richter stranded a runner on base in the seventh.
UW-Oshkosh put a runner on second base in all three of the final innings, but none advanced further as Whitewater stifled any chance of scoring.
