OSHKOSH, Wis. - The Ripon College baseball team extended its season-best winning streak to six games Wednesday afternoon, defeating UW-Oshkosh 7-5 in a game that Ripon never trailed.
The Red Hawks (16-12) wasted no time getting on the board, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.
Michael Polcyn broke a scoreless tie in the inning with one swing of the bat, connecting on his fourth home run in the last six games, a two-run shot over the right field wall. That gives Polcyn 16 home runs in his two years with the team, which is tied for ninth in the school's career record book. Ripon's other run in the inning came on a fielder's choice that saw
Nick Schmitt cross the plate.
Mitchell Busch added another run for the Red Hawks in the third with an RBI single, which was one of four hits for Busch on the day. UW-Oshkosh (21-15) got on the board with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of that inning, but Ripon would get that run back in the fourth on an RBI single off the bat of
Dakotah Kirchenwitz.
UW-Oshkosh (21-15) would make things interesting in the middle innings, scoring once in the fifth and three more times in the sixth to tie the score at five. That tie lasted until the eighth when Busch gave the Red Hawks the lead for good with another RBI single.
Nick Kita added a run-scoring single in the ninth to give the Red Hawks some insurance.
In addition to Busch's 4-for-4 performance at the dish, Kirchenwitz, Polcyn, and Schmitt also registered a multi-hit game, recording two apiece. Schmitt's two hits were both doubles, giving him double-digit doubles for the third consecutive season and moving him into fifth in school history with 38 in his three-year career.
Michael Anderson (4-0) earned the win in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out one in 1.2 innings of work.
Jeff Schuurmans picked up his third save of the season, which is one shy of the third-highest total in school history, as he retired the Titans in order in the bottom of the ninth, striking out one of the three batters that he faced.
Ripon will be in action again on Saturday, as they'll host a doubleheader against Carroll University. That twinbill will begin at 1 p.m. at Francis Field and will also serve as Senior Day, which will see Ripon honor its 12 seniors. One more win will give Ripon a berth into the 2015 Midwest Conference Tournament.
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