UW-L Eliminated from WIAC Tournament

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 9, 2008

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse baseball team was eliminated from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Friday night with a 14-5 loss to UW-Oshkosh at Witter Field. The Eagles finish their season at 19-20 while the Titans improve to 29-8 and will play Saturday at noon in the conference tournament. UW-L fell 14-9 to UW-Whitewater Friday morning in the first game of the tournament while UW-Oshkosh lost 10-0 to UW-Stevens Point.

UW-Oshkosh scored twice in the top of the first on Blake Berger's two-run double and the Titans took a 6-0 lead in the second on Brad Demmin's grand slam. Tony Peterson got UW-L on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the second and Mike Schmidt's three-run home run in the bottom of the third cut the lead to 6-4.

The Titans scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth to lead 8-4 and Berger followed with a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 10-4. UW-Oshkosh added a run in the top of the eighth and three more in the top of the ninth, highlighted by Demmin's two-run double. Travis Kerr had an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth for UW-L to finish the scoring.

Ross Benitz (5-6) took the loss for UW-L, going 4.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs and two walks while striking out two. Britton Wolf pitched 4.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs (three earned) and one walk with two strikeouts. Luke Zurbriggen went 1.0 inning, allowing four hits and three runs with a strikeout.

Schmidt finished 3-for-4 at the plate for the Eagles with a run scored and three RBI while Peterson was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.

Jeremy Rubens (10-1) earned the victory for UW-Oshkosh, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing six hits and one run with two strikeouts.

Demmin and Berger each went 5-for-6 for the Titans. Demmin finished with five runs and six RBI while Berger totaled five RBI with a run scored. UW-Oshkosh tied a season-high with 20 hits. The Titans scored 10 runs with two outs in the game.