Return to Eastlake: Warhawk Baseball Advances to NCAA World Series after Decisive Game against UW-Oshkosh

Titans force third game, but UWW answers back with a 10-0 shutout to clinch their spot in the DIII World Series for the second consecutive season

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team will make their return to Eastlake, Ohio after an all-around showcase in a decisive third game against UW-Oshkosh in the NCAA Division III Super Regional in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

The Titans (35-16) forced a decisive third game, after opening the day with a 5-2 victory, but the Warhawks shut-out the Titans in the decision, allowing their bats to get to work with 10 runs on 17 hits. 

To open the day, it was a must win for the Titans in the best-of-three series as the Warhawks took the opening game with a dominant 14-1 win, yesterday. Read more…

The Titans got out to an early start on defense, stranding the Warhawks on the corners at the top of the first. UW-Oshkosh was the designated home team per NCAA policy in both games of the day. The momentum shifted into the bottom of the frame as UWO took an early 3-0 lead with an RBI-single and 2-run homer in the first inning.

Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) closed the gap with a 2-out RBI single in the third, but UW-Oshkosh would make back up the run immediately with a sacrifice in the bottom of the inning.

The Warhawks had eight hits in the early game, but nothing was together. That changed in the 6th, when three consecutive singles ended with an RBI for Darryl Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King). That run cut the lead to just two, where it held until the bottom 8th.

UW-Oshkosh added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th with a small ball rally. UW-Whitewater couldn’t make up the deficit with their last three outs, setting the stage for the decisive third game at Prucha Field. 

The Warhawks batted first again in the third game, and it didn’t take long to get the bats going. The second inning began with three straight singles to load the bases for UWW. However, UW-Oshkosh managed to escape only allowing one run on a sacrifice fly from Jackson. 

Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) tacked on another run, hitting his first home run of the day in the top of the 3rd. Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) followed it up in the next frame, with his own no-doubter to left field. McVay’s jack scored two, but the Warhawks continued to rally in the top of the fourth. Thies and Frank each hit doubles that bounced high off the outfield wall to score two more as the UWW lead increased to 6-0.

Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) continued to deal on the mound, putting down nine batters straight. The offense added on two more to help him and the defense out, a sacrifice fly from Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) in the 5th and Andy Thies’s (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) second home run of the game in the 6th.

In the top of the 7th, the Titans got through three outs without allowing a run for the first time since the first inning. Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) changed that in the top of the 8th with just one swing, hitting the 100th home run of the season for the Warhawk crew. 

Eisenbarth was relieved in the eighth and made his way to the dugout under a standing ovation from the Warhawk faithful. Jack Hagen (San Clemente, Cal./San Clemente) picked up where he left off, keeping the Titans shut out in the final two innings of work. 

Thies added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, going from second to home on a dropped-third-strike wild pitch. 

UW-Oshkosh grabbed their only extra-base-hit of the game in the bottom of the ninth, but a fly out to Scolan in left field secured the Warhawks’ spot in the NCAA Division III World Series for the second consecutive season.

Eisenbarth earned the win on the mound, going 7.0 innings without allowing a run and only three hits. The junior fanned six batters on the way to his 8th victory of the season.

The Warhawks will await word from the NCAA on the seeding for the NCAA World Series. Information will be released via www.ncaa.com/sports/baseball/d3 in the coming days. For the most up-to-date news and stories, visit uwwsports.com or download the Warhawk Athletics App. 

Editor’s note: The above article was posted to the UW-Whitewater website.