Schwartz wins 400th as Eagles split with Titans

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La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader split with UW-Oshkosh Wednesday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Titans took the opener, 8-7, before the Eagles came back to win the nightcap, 5-4. UWL is now 27-11 overall and 17-9 in the WIAC while UW-Oshkosh is 20-15 overall and 16-10 in the conference.

UWL head coach Chris Schwarz earned his 400th career victory with the Eagles' win in the second game Wednesday. He becomes the sixth coach in WIAC history to earn 400 career victories. In his 17th season at UWL, Schwarz is 400-281-2 (.587) at the helm of the Eagles. He has led UWL to two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship appearances and five berths in the NCAA Division III Regional. A total of 91 All-WIAC awards have been earned under Schwarz as well as 18 All-America selections and 61 All-Region accolades.

UWL honored its four seniors, Shane Coker, Parker Plume, Zach Pronschinske and Brennan Schmitt prior to the start of Wednesday's action.

UW-Oshkosh scored three runs in the top of the first in opener on Wednesday. Eric Modaff and Jake Surane singled on the first two pitches of the game for the Titans. Hunter Staniske walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Matt Scherrman delivered a two-run single to make it 2-0. Staniske was thrown out at the plate by Mac Born on Connor Giusti's single, but UW-Oshkosh scored its third run of the game with Scherman coming on a UWL fielding error.

The Titans added two more runs in the top of the second inning. Chase Marsh singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Modaff then singled home Marsh to give UW-Oshkosh a 4-0 advantage. Surane later scored on a wild pitch for a 5-0 lead.

UWL got on the board in the bottom of the second as Schmitt was hit-by-pitch and went to third after a failed pick-off attempt. Mac Born then doubled to knock in Schmitt to make it 5-1. The Eagles cut it to 5-2 in the bottom of third with a two-out unearned run. Zach Carney walked with two outs and sent ot second as Schmitt reached on a UW-Oshkosh error. Born then singled to score Carney. Coker was hit-by-pitch to load the bases, but Jack Olver grounded out to end the inning.

UW-Oshkosh got the run back in the top of the fourth on Matt Scherrman's solo home run for a 6-2 lead. UWL cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth after Coker was hit-by-pitch for the second time in the game and scored on Olver's two-run home run to center field.

The Titans took a 7-4 lead in the eighth with Modaff coming in on Jarrett Scheelk's sacrifice bunt. UW-Oshkosh added an insurance run in the ninth as Griffith Lukes scored on a Surane single. Marsh was thrown out at the plate for the third out of the inning by Plume.

UWL rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Connor Roesler hit a one-out home run to cut the lead to 8-5. Jonathan Wizner followed with a single. After a line-out for the second out of the inning, Schmitt's double scored Wizner to make it 8-6. UW-Oshkosh made a pitching change and Born doubled home Schmitt to make it a one-run game, but Coker was retired on a fly-ball to left field to end the game.

Jack Mizgalski (4-2) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing nine hits, six runs (five earned) and five walks while striking out five. The Eagles finished with eight hits with Born going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Schmitt scored twice while Olver had two RBI.

Grant Yakimisky (2-2) earned the win for UW-Oshkosh. He went 7.1 innings, allowing three hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks with two strikeouts. Harry Orth recorded his third save, pitching 0.1 of an inning, allowing one hit. The Titans totaled 12 hits in the opener with Modaff going 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Surane went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Scherrman finished 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI.

UW-Oshkosh took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the nightcap as Surane reached third on a UWL fielding error and scored on Staniske's ground out. UWL tied it in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single from Carney and RBI double from Schmitt. The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Olver singled with one out and went to second on Andrew Rajkovich's walk. Olver advanced to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a Titans' throwing error as Roesler reached base.

UW-Oshkosh got single tallies in the fourth and sixth inning for a 3-2 lead. Scherrman scored on a Lukes' fielder's choice in the top of the fourth to tie the game and took the lead in the sixth as Scherrman scored on a Lukes' single. The Titans made it 4-2 in the eighth on Giusti's sacrifice fly scoring Scheelk.

UWL tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Schmitt walked to start the inning and went to second on a wild pitch. Born's single put runners on the corners. Coker followed with an RBI single to knock in Schmitt to cut the lead to 4-3. Olver's then delivered an RBI double to score Born and tie the game. The Eagles had the bases-loaded with no outs after Rajkovich was intentionally walked, but failed to score the rest of the inning.

After the Titans were retired in order in the top of the ninth, Carney led-off the bottom of the ninth for the Eagles with a single. Schmitt followed with a single and Born's bunt single loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Olver's single through the right side of the infield scored Carney with the winning run.

Pronschinske (6-2) earned the victory in relief for UWL, going 3.0 innings, allowing two hits, one run and one walk with three strikeouts. Brady Schmitt started, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks while striking out four. The Eagles had 14 hits in the nightcap as five players recorded at least two. Olver went 4-for-5 with one run and two RBI while Carney finished 3-for-5 with two runs. Schmitt, Born and Coker each had two hits.

Trevor Niedzwiecki (2-3) suffred the loss for UW-Oshkosh, pitching 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and one run with three strikeouts. Scheelk started, going 7.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks while striking out eight. The Titans finished with seven hits with Scherrman finishing 2-for-2 with two runs.

The teams will play another conference doubleheader Saturday, May 15 at 1 p.m. at UW-Oshkosh.