The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team claimed its fifth straight win in its first game Sunday before seeing the streak come to an end in the second contest of a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against UW-Oshkosh at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The Warhawks (10-6 overall, 3-1 WIAC) claimed the opener by a 6-4 score before falling just short in a comeback attempt in a 10-9 setback in the nightcap.
In the opener, senior third baseman Cal Aldridge tied the game with a towering home run in the bottom of the seventh, and the Warhawks took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth on a Titan error and a two-out double by senior second baseman Nick Schrader.
Junior Keith Kutzler picked up the win after tossing three innings in relief of sophomore starter Westin Muir, who pitched the first 5 2/3 innings before a one-hour, 30-minute rain delay.
Kutzler (1-1) struck out three in his performance. Junior Larkin Hanselmann recorded the final out of the game with the tying run at the plate for his first save.
Aldridge finished 3-for-3 with two home runs, one walk, three runs scored and two runs batted in. Schrader reached base three times with two hits and one walk, and senior catcher Mike Aiello registered two hits and one RBI.
Junior centerfielder Alex Doud singled home a run to start the scoring in the bottom of the first, and Aiello knocked a base hit through the right side to make it 2-0.
Aldridge recorded his first homer of the game in the third to centerfield with nobody out to bring the score to 3-0.
UW-Oshkosh (12-9, 5-3) scored the next four runs in the contest with two in the fifth and two in the seventh, but UW-Whitewater tallied three unanswered for its third win in the weekend series.
In Game 2, the two teams traded runs before the Titans broke a 6-6 tie with four in the top of the fifth.
The Warhawks tallied once in the eighth and twice in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate before coming up short.
Junior centerfielder Noah Jensen finished 4-for-4 with one double, one triple, one walk, three runs scored and one RBI. Junior designated hitter Connor Moroder and sophomore right fielder Bryan Sturdevant each plated two runs.
Aldridge reached base five times on two hits and three intentional walks, and Schrader collected two hits, two runs scored and one RBI.
Hanselmann was dealt the loss to drop to 0-1 on the year. Sophomore Connor Spear tossed three scoreless innings, and sophomore Evan Sigmund dealt a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
The Warhawks return to WIAC action Wednesday at UW-Platteville. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.