Scott Plaza (Arlington Heights, IL/Prospect) pitched nine innings of an 11-inning, 1-0 win over UW-Oshkosh Wednesday in Whitewater.  He gave up just four hits and one walk while striking out eleven.  The Warhawks also won the first game of the doubleheader 8-7 to improve to 27-6 overall and 15-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  The Titans go home with a record of 16-16 overall and 6-12 in the WIAC.

Game one was quite different from game two with the two teams totaling 15 runs.  At least one team scored in six of the nine innings.  UW-W opened things up in the first when Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) hit a two-run homer to left center.

Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) led off the third with a triple and Pierce followed with a walk.  Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) pushed Friend across with a fielder's choice and Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) followed with a triple to score Gonzalez and give UW-W a 4-0 lead.

Friend belted his team leading seventh homer of the year in the fifth inning to give the Warhawks a five run cushion.

The Titans battled back with four runs on five consecutive hits to start the sixth, but UW-W got three back in the bottom of the frame.  Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine) scored the first on a Nick Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest) triple and Kyle Haen (Madison/Edgewood) followed with a homerun to make it 8-4 after six.

The Titans did not go quietly.  They added two in the seventh and one in the eighth to make it 8-7, but Colin Grove (Beloit/Memorial) snuffed out the comeback to earn the save, his first of the season.

Connor Hurst (Waunakee/Waunakee) started the game and went five innings before being lifted in lieu of Curtis Morgan (Green Lake/Green Lake) who pitched the sixth and seventh.  Hurst went on to earn the win to improve to 5-1 this season.

It took eleven innings for anyone to score in game two and credit is given to both starting pitchers.  After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach base Plaza settled in and took control.  He never faced more than four batters an inning for the remainder of the time he was in the game.

On the flip side Ben Messenger was pitching an equally impressive game.  He went nine innings allowing four hits and striking out five.  The Warhawks got a runner to third in the ninth with two outs, perhaps the best scoring opportunity for either team in the game, but Messenger got the final out on a pop up.

Austin Jones (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa West) came on in relief of Plaza and kept the Titans quiet through two.

In the bottom of the eleventh Kyle Haen (Madison/Edgewood) led off with a long fly ball to center that was dropped and Haen ended up on second.  Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the game winning run to third.  The Titans intentionally walked Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) to set-up the double-play, but Pierce followed with a walk to load the bases.  Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) was the "lucky" recipient of an errant pitch that hit him in the shoulder and pushed the game winning run across the plate.

Unfortunately Plaza's great game did not factor into the decision, but he went a long way in factoring into the win.  This is the second time this season he has struck out 11 in a game.  Jones earned the win to improve to 3-1 this season.

Next up for the Warhawks is another weekend series at home.  UW-W was originally scheduled to travel to UW-Superior this weekend for a doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday, but due to weather and poor field conditions the Yellowjackets will be making the trip down.  The first pitch on each day is scheduled for noon.