Osmanski pitches Pioneers to split
Posted April 9, 2009
Wil Osmanski pitched all 11 innings--the first 10 scoreless--in leading UW-Platteville to a 2-1 win over visiting UW-Superior Thursday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader. Kyle Mack also turned in an impressive complete-game mound performance, but the Yellowjackets won the nightcap 2-0.
Osmanski allowed just five hits and walked two while striking out 10 over his 11-inning performance.
"I was just trying to throw first-pitch strikes," said the junior from Des Plaines, Ill. "I wanted to be not afraid to throw anything and let my defense makes plays behind me...I was feeling real good today. I'm thankful Coach (Eric Frese) had the confidence in me to leave me in there that long."
The game was scoreless until the 11th, when the Yellowjackets' Mitch Loegering doubled to right-center, bringing home pinch-runner Jimi Zawacki.
"I was mad at myself," Osmanski said. "I left one over the plate, but my teammates picked me up."
Steve Bomkamp singled to center, starting the bottom of the 10th and chasing Yellowjacket starter Justin Saufley, who threw 10 innings of six-hit ball. Lee Hawkins greeted reliever Tim Bouvine with another single to center. Shawn Tobie hit the ball to third, and the Yellowjackets opted to try for the double play and concede the tying run but ended up throwing the ball into right field, sending Hawkins to third. Brenden Watson ended the game with a deep sacrifice fly to left, easily scoring Hawkins with the game-winner.
In the second game, the Yellowjackets scored twice in the first inning, one on a Brett Olson single and another on a Pioneer error, taking a 2-0 lead. Mack, however, did not yield another run the rest of the way, including in the eighth when he worked out of a bases-loaded one-out situation with a popup and a strikeout.
UWP collected three hits over 4.2 innings against starter T.W. Wink and then just one more against Bouvine, who threw the final 4.1 frames. The Pioneers loaded the bases in the seventh, but Brett Benesh's hard liner was caught in center.
The Pioneers are now 10-10 overall and 3-5 in the WIAC, and the Yellowjackets are 8-12, 1-5. The same two clubs play a doubleheader again Friday at noon at Platteville's Kendall Murray Field.
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