Welcome to the new WIAC.  Fourteenth ranked UW-Oshkosh defeated ninth ranked UW-Whitewater in both ends of a doubleheader, 4-1 and 5-4, Saturday at Tiedemann Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  The results aren't new, these teams have a long-standing rivalry.  What's new is that both teams' final scores would have been a good inning in the days of the superbats and smash-mouth baseball, and that memory is fading faster than a spring break tan in Wisconsin.

The Warhawks took the lead with a run in the top of the third.  Daniel Putnam led off with a single, and moved to second when Andrew Eichstaedt was walked, and Rob Coe continued his recent hot streak with a single.  Jeff Donovan picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly.   UW-W would pick up just three more hits, all singles, the rest of the way.

Oshkosh scored the game winning runs, with the aid of UW-W, in the fifth.  Zachary Peterson doubled with one out.  The next batter, Nolan Fadness, reached on an error with Peterson moving to third.  Tyler Kamps made it hurt with a two run triple.  It hurt even more when Kamps scored on the Warhawks' second error of the frame to make it 3-1 Titans.

UW-O added an insurance run in the seventh, combining a walk, another UW-W error and a single by Alex Mullendore for the final score of the game.

Justin Lambert, 4-2, took the hard luck loss for UW-W.  Lambert went five innings, allowed one earned run on four hits, walked two and struck out two.  Junior lefthander Luke Westphal, 5-0, went the distance for the Titans, allowing just six hits.  He did not walk a batter and struck out five.  

Putnam led UW-W at the plate with a 2x4 game.  Kamps had two of Oshkosh's five hits.

UW-W also struck first in game two, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first.  Putnam (note a trend here) led off with a single and scored on Coe's (again) triple.  Donovan (ditto) picked up another run batted in with a ground ball to score Coe.

Oshkosh cut the lead in half in the third.  Bobby Kachel walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a ground ball to first.  Kamps singled him in.

The Titans tied it in the fourth.  Derek Hiroskey singled and UW-O used the bunt to move him to second and another grounder put him at third.  Kachel's infield single knotted the game 2-2.

Warhawk Steve Bartlein opened the fifth with a walk and advanced to second on Putnam's single.  Eichstaedt's ground ball was misplayed, allowing Bartlien to score and putting Putnam at third.  Coe's ground ball plated Putnam to put UW-W in front 4-2. 

It got a little tighter in the eighth, with UW-O manufacturing a run out of two hits and a ground ball, with Whitewater still in front 4-3.

Kachel led off the Oshkosh ninth by drawing a walk.  He was replaced by pinch runner Mike Locasto.  Peterson sacrificed Locasto to second, and Fadness followed with a single that put runners on first and third.  Fadness then moved up to second on a wild pitch.  Kamps, a thorn in Whitewater's side all day, grounded a ball between two infielders, with the Warhawk defensive player diving to keep the ball on the infield.  However, his attempted throw to first was wide and Locasto scored the winning run.

Matthew Roberts gave UW-W another strong start, throwing seven innings of six hit, two run baseball.  He walked two and struck out five.  Putnam, one of two players in Division III that could have his average go down with a 2x4 game, led UW-W hitters again.  (Putnam is second in batting in the NCAA III statistics, batting .527 before these games and still at .520).

Matt Wells, a sophomore righty, came in to start the second and finished the game to remain undefeated at 3-0.  Wells allowed one earned run on six hits, walked two and struck out three.  Fadness, Kamps and Hiroskey had two hits apiece for the Oshkosh offense.

UW-W will stay in Oshkosh to face UW-O again Sunday, with the doubleheader getting underway at 12:00.  The Warhawks will finish the regular season with four consecutive doubleheaders at home, beginning with a non-conference matchup with tenth-ranked College of Saint Scholastica Tuesday at 1:00 at Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium.