Palmer leads Blue Devils to first game win over Oshkosh

UW-Stout 5, UW-Oshkosh 0 | UW-Oshkosh 9, UW-Stout 1 | D3sports.com Photo Gallery

OSHKOSH (April 14, 2021) - James Palmer pitched a complete game shutout as UW-Stout defeated UW-Oshkosh, 5-0, in the first game of a WIAC contest Wednesday at Tiedemann Field. The Titans came back to take a 9-1 second game win.

The complete game was the first of Palmer's collegiate career as the Boyceville senior allowed four hits and retired 15 straight batters from the last out of the fourth up to the second out of the ninth inning. Palmer fanned seven batters and did not allow a runner past first base. 

And the Blue Devils' needed Palmer's gem through the first six innings as the two teams remained scoreless until the seventh when Stout scored two runs. Stout (9-7, 6-4 WIAC) tallied the two runs on three hits, but scored their runs on wild pitches. Colin Hageman opened with a hit then, following an out, moved to third on Charlie Szykowny's double to right field. Hageman scored on a wild pitch and Szykowny moved to third. Alex Jinkins was intentionally walked, putting runners at the corners. Szykowny scored on a wild pitch to give Stout a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Devils gave Palmer all the cushion he would need with a three-run ninth inning. Riley Boushack drew a lead-off walk, stole second, then moved to third on Szykowny's second double of the game. Jinkins plated the two with a double to left center, moved to third on Kasey Bass' deep flyout to left field, then came home when Hunter Merrill sliced a single through the left side of the field. Palmer gave up a harmless one-out hit in the bottom of the inning, then forced a fielder's choice and ended the game on a foul fly to catcher Paul Weise.

Bass was 3 for 4, while Szykowny was 2 for 5 with two runs scored and two doubles. Hageman was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Jinkins was 1 for 4 with two RBI with a run scored. Stout finished the game with 11 hits off three different pitchers. Four different Titans had one hit apiece.

Stout's last shutout was Feb. 22, 2020, when Cody Urban and Ethan Kjellberg combined for a 5-0 win over Wilmington University. Stout's last complete game shutout came April 28, 2019, when Casey Ryan went the distance in a 5-0 win over UW-Stevens Point. 

In the nightcap it was a different story as the Titans (7-9, 5-5 WIAC) outhit Stout 13-5. Oshkosh chipped away to build their lead, getting a single run in the first inning when Hunter Staniske recorded his first of three hits in the game, driving in Eric Modoff, who opened the inning with a single. 

Stout came back to tie the game in the fourth when Reece Vold drove in Joel Thimsen, who had drawn a one-out walk. The Titans took the lead back with two runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Jarrett Scheelk and and Connor Giusti.

Oshkosh added three runs in the seventh inning on a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly by Zach Taylor and a squeeze bunt by Jackson Broom. Scheelk pounded a three-run home in the bottom of the eighth th close out the scoring.

Thimsen and Vold were both 2 for 3 for Stout. Szykowny had the other hit, a one-out triple in the third.

Staniske extended his hitting streak to 19 games and was 3 for 4 with an RBI for Oshkosh. Scheelk was 2 for 4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Modaff, Giusti and Taylor each had two hits. Scheelk also picked up the win on the mound, allowing the one earned run and four hits, working eight innings and recording eight strikeouts.

The teams are scheduled to meet Saturday, April 17 in Menomonie, with the doubleheader to get underway at noon.