UW-Oshkosh and UW-Superior played their third straight one-run baseball game as the squads grabbed one win apiece on Sunday (April 1) at Tiedemann Field.
Michael Polcyn (Fr. • Ripon) launched a two-run home run in the Titans' 7-6 victory in the opener. UW-Superior (11-8/2-2 WIAC) then scored five runs during its first three at-bats to take the second game, 6-3. These teams also split one-run wins on Saturday (March 31).
Tony Remund led off game one with a double. After two outs, T.J. Evanson launched a two-run home run. Evanson's homer was the first allowed by UW-Oshkosh pitching this year. The runs also snapped a streak of 11.2 scoreless innings hurled by Travis Sindles (So. • Twin Lakes).
UW-Oshkosh (6-9/2-2 WIAC) then grabbed a 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. The Titans scored twice on Kyle Van Abel's (Sr. • Kaukauna) single and once on Trey Demler's (Fr. • Oshkosh) single.
The Titans stretched their cushion to 5-2 when Polcyn belted a two-run home run in the second inning. The Yellowjackets responded with a three-run fifth inning to equal the score. Evanson, Rob Veith and Tom Fairbanks each drove in a run with a single.
Van Abel walked and stole a base during the sixth inning to start a rally. Doug Beattie (Jr. • Escanaba, Mich.) then put UW-Oshkosh on top with his single to right field. A fielding miscue allowed the Titans to increase their advantage to 7-5.
Chad Wyss (So. • New Lisbon) replaced Sindles in the second inning and allowed three runs over the next four frames. Troy Mrkvicka (Sr. • Greendale) then earned the victory after holding the Yellowjackets to just one run and one hit over the next four innings.
UW-Superior had Nick Bursik start and yield six earned runs over six innings. Andrew Lange got the last six outs by facing the minimum number of batters.
The second contest also featured two first-inning runs by the Yellowjackets. Jeff Miller tallied a run-scoring single before Veith hit a sacrifice fly. Miller then crushed a two-run double to left field that made it a 4-0 score in the second inning.
After Fairbanks hit a solo home run in the third inning, UW-Oshkosh got its offense going. Michael Swift (Fr. • Kenosha) singled and later scored on an error. Brock Guetzke (Jr. • Hartford) ripped another single to cut the Titans' deficit to 5-2. UW-Oshkosh pulled within 5-3 on a Tyler Kamps (Jr. • Appleton) double in the seventh inning, but it would get no closer.
Cody Johnson shut the door with three innings of one-hit relief. The save was his second of the weekend series. Dan Genrich posted the win, surrendering one earned run with four strikeouts in six innings of work. Guetzke received the loss after allowing five runs and seven hits during the first three innings. Mrkvicka entered and tossed four shutout innings before giving way to Matt Wells (Jr. • Little Chute) in the eighth.
The Titans were led by three hits from Polcyn and two by Swift during the doubleheader. The Yellowjackets got three hits each from four players in the twin bill, including Jeff Miller who had three hits and three runs batted in during the nightcap.
UW-Oshkosh travels for a battle with UW-Whitewater (9-4) on Thursday (April 5).