UW-Whitewater split a doubleheader at UW-Oshkosh Wednesday, losing 11-0 and coming back with a 7-4 win to retain third place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
game one box score
game two box score
Oshkosh scored five times in first inning of game one. The first batter reached on an error, another was hit by a pitch, and then with two outs the Titans brought those two home plus three more. Jason Fosler knocked in two with a double, Mickey Fadness singled to bring in two more, and Derek Hiroskey drove home number five with a triple. UW-O added one in the third, two in the fourth and three more in the sixth to win by the run differential rule.
Junior righthander Jeremy Rubens went the distance, seven innings, giving up four hits to the Warhawks, walking none and striking out five.
Whitewater had the bases loaded in the second, and runners in scoring position in the fourth and seventh. Catcher Rob Coe (Appleton/North) had two of Whitewater's four hits.
Turnabout was fair play in game two, with UW-W scoring four times in the first, three of them coming with two outs. Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) drove in the first run with a single to left, and DH Matt Millar (Stoughton/Stoughton) put two more on the board with a single. Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) drew a bases loaded walk to force in the fourth run.
Whitewater scored its fifth run, which proved to be the winning tally, in the second, with Zalnis putting the bat on the ball to score Sam Petrasko (Appleton/East), who had led off the inning with a bunt, stole second, and moved to third on a fly ball.
The Titans scored once in the fourth and three times in the fifth to cut the Warhawk lead to 5-4, but Whitewater's relief pitching literally saved the day. #C.J. Herrforth# came on with the tying run on base in the fifth and ended the threat with a strikeout. He pitched two innings of hitless ball and earn the win. He was followed by Aaron Dott (Green Lake/Green Lake), who went two and a third without allowing a run to pick up his first save of the year. Dott pitched his way out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth.
UW-W added single runs in the eighth and ninth. Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) and Coe led the Warhawk attack with two hits apiece. Kuhlmann also added a walk.
UW-O won three of four regular season meetings between the two schools. The Titans swept the April 1 doubleheader 11-0 and 17-5. Coupled with UW-La Crosse's sweep of UW-Platteville Wednesday, UW-W remains in third place in the WIAC. Oshkosh leads at 6-2 with UW-L second at 9-3. Whitewater is 7-5 in league play, and 15-8 overall. Over half the league regular season, twelve games, remain to be played.
UW-Whitewater is ranked twenty-fourth in the D3baseball.com poll and UW-Oshkosh is in the "others receiving votes" category.
UW-Whitewater will host a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, hosting UW-Superior Saturday and Sunday at Prucha Field at 12:00. Prucha Field is north of Williams Center and west of Perkins Stadium on the north end of campus. Free parking is adjacent to Prucha Field.
For additional information: John Vodenlich, UW-W coach
