UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Oshkosh, at Prucha Field, 9-7 and 8-3 on April 5 with the help of the homerun to improve their record to 11-2 (2-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference). UW-Oshkosh is now 8-5 (3-3 in the WIAC).
Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
Mike Jacobson (Oak Creek/Oak Creek), a senior from Oak Creek, Wis., was the winning pitcher in game one for the Warhawks. He recorded the final out of the ninth. UW-W also got four plus strong innings by Kale Olson (Rochester, MN/Century), a sophomore from Rochester, Minn., who gave up two runs on five hits.
Aaron Dott (Green Lake/Green Lake), a sophomore from Green Lake, Wis., was the winning pitcher in second game. He went seven innings and gave up three runs on two hits. He struck out five while walking eight.
The losing pitcher in game one for UW-Oshkosh was Jeremy Rubens, a sophomore from New Franken, Wis. He gave up a homer, a single and a homer in the bottom of the ninth without recording an out. Travis Helland, a sophomore from Baldwin, Wis., was the losing pitcher in the second game. He gave up four runs on four hits and was taken out in the second inning.
Offensively, the Warhawks showed power. Third-baseman Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock), a junior from Woodstock, Ill., hit three home runs in nine at-bats, center-fielder Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill), a junior from Merril, Wis., went 5-7 with four runs scored and two RBIs and Catcher Billy Johnson (Kenosha/Kenosha Tremper), a senior from Kenosha, Wis., went 5-8 with two runs scored, a RBI and a stolen base.
For UW-Oshkosh, right-fielder Jason Fosler, a junior from DeForest, Wis., went 5-7 with two runs scored and Brad Demmin, a junior from Oshkosh, Wis., went 3-8 with a run scored. Designated hitter Mike Waupoose hit a two-run double in the first game.
In the first game, the Warhawks struck first in the bottom of the third with a two out two-run homer by Stine. UW-Oshkosh answered in the top of the fifth with five runs on seven hits, including a lead off homer by third-baseman Kyle Kannenburg, a sophomore from Oshkosh, Wis.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Warhawks struck right back with five homers in a row by sophomore Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest), a shortstop from Minneapolis, Minn., sophomore Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa East), a first-baseman from Wauwatosa, Wis., Stine, senior Thomas Corcoran, a right-fielder from Rochester, Minn., and Zalnis. They went into the ninth with a 6-5 lead.
The back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers were a school record for consecutive home runs in an inning. The school record for most home runs in an inning was six against Carrol College on April 15, 1997. The school record for home runs in a game was 10 against UW-Stevens Point on April 28, 1995.
In the top of the ninth, UW-Oshkosh tied the game on a sacrifice fly by outfielder Blake Berger, a freshman from Star Prairie, Wis. Later in the inning, UW-Oshkosh took the lead with an RBI double by second-baseman Nolan Fadness, a freshman from Eau Claire, Wis.
The Warhawks tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a home run by Zalinis. After a single, first-baseman Matt Schliewe (Horicon/Horicon), a senior from Horican, Wis., hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to claim the victory for UW-Whitewater.
In the second game, UW-Whitewater struck first with five runs in the bottom of the second inning, which began with a Zalinis homer. UW-Oshkosh scored first in the top of the third with a homer by N. Fadness.
The closest UW-Oshkosh got in the game was 7-3 after they picked up two runs on groundouts in the top of the sixth. UW-Whitewater added runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-3 lead and the victory.
The two teams meet again tomorrow for a double-header on Youth Baseball Day, which begins at noon.
For additional information: Head Coach John Vodenlich
