Luke Westphal (Sr. • Clintonville) struck out seven while allowing two hits in UW-Oshkosh's doubleheader split with Saint John's University (Minn.) on Monday (March 26) in the Minneapolis Metrodome.
The Titans (4-7) used a pair of two-out rallies to support Westphal in a 4-1 opener victory. Saint John's (12-6) received an offensive explosion and four Titan errors to capture the second contest, 10-3.
After two outs in the opener's second frame, UW-Oshkosh drew a pair of walks. Michael Swift (Fr. • Kenosha) then delivered a run-scoring single. In the third, Tyler Kamps (Jr. • Appleton) doubled home another man to make it 2-0.
The Johnnies' lone hits were a RBI single from Connor Cline during the fourth and a single by Josh Groth in the seventh. Derek Layton (Jr. • Cross Plains) gave the Titans their final margin with his two-run single during the seventh.
Ryan Spengler took the loss, giving up two earned runs in five frames. Hayden Zimmerman tossed the last two innings and yielded one ER with three strikeouts.
Game two began with Luke Larson's two-run single, which was set up by a wild pitch and fielding error. The Titans came right back in the bottom of the first with runs on grounders by Kyle Van Abel (Sr. • Kaukauna) and Trey Demler (Fr. • Oshkosh).
Saint John's scored five times during the second frame to break away from the 2-2 tie. Larson provided the big blow with a two-run triple to right field. Max Forster added a RBI double after two fielding miscues prolonged the inning.
Larson posted a run-scoring single during the fifth to finish the day with three hits and five RBI. Michael Polcyn (Fr. • Ripon) led all UW-Oshkosh players with three hits.
Titan pitchers recorded 13 strikeouts in seven innings, with Chad Wyss (So. • New Lisbon) providing seven in his three frames. Brock Guetzke (Jr. • Hartford) started and took the loss after surrendering five ER in two innings.
Cline threw five innings for the victory, allowing two ER on five hits. Joey Long then struck out three men and didn't give up a hit during his two frames.
UW-Oshkosh opens WIAC play against UW-Superior on Saturday (March 31) at Tiedemann Field.