Titans Record First Doubleheader Sweep Of Season

UW-Oshkosh gained its first doubleheader sweep of the year with two victories over the UW-Stout baseball team on Saturday (April 21) at Tiedemann Field.

Luke Westphal (Sr. • Clintonville) struck out half the batters he faced in the Titans' 15-0 opener win. During the nightcap, UW-Oshkosh (11-16/7-9 WIAC) broke a fifth-inning tie and held on for the 4-2 decision. These two squads entered the day tied in the conference standings.

In the first inning of the twinbill, the Titans marked five hits. Jake Dostalek (So. • Waterford) and Kyle Van Abel (Sr. • Kaukauna) each booked a RBI single to go ahead, 4-0. The lead increased to 8-0 when Brock Guetzke (Jr. • Hartford) roped a run-scoring double in the second and Michael Polcyn (Fr. • Ripon) a two-run triple during the third.

UW-Oshkosh totaled 16 hits in the game, including four in the fourth frame. The Blue Devils (15-15/5-11 WIAC) committed three errors to help the six-run inning, which featured run-scoring deliveries by Guetzke and Doug Beattie (Jr. • Escanaba, Mich.).

The league's top-hitting team with a .335 average, UW-Stout was held to .193 by the Titan pitchers over two contests. A Blue Devil never advanced past second base in the opener while stranding two runners in the second and sixth innings.

Westphal went five innings, striking out nine with two hits allowed. Eric Stenson threw the final two frames and preserved the shutout, which was UW-Oshkosh's biggest since 2006.

UW-Stout utilized six pitchers, but none for more than 1.1 innings. Cory Hedeen took the loss with five runs allowed, while Mike Dumask surrendered six runs (three earned). Jake Lunow and Mitch Dunaway combined for seven outs of scoreless relief.

In the nightcap's first frame, Dostalek came up with a two-out single to put the Titans up 2-0. UW-Stout then equaled the score in the fourth inning on a Jon Schoch double and Charlie Meyer single.

The bottom of the fifth began with a fielding error. UW-Oshkosh took advantage, using run-scoring singles by Guetzke and Alex Mullendore (Sr. • Glendale Heights, Ill.) to grab the 4-2 lead.

James Lacy (So. • Shawano) fired all nine innings and allowed two earned runs for the win. He yielded just one hit over the final three frames. The loss went to Carter Vogt, who gave up two ER in five innings before Dan Britts tossed three scoreless innings.

The top hitter of the day was Polcyn, who recorded four hits, five runs and two RBI. Van Abel also tallied three hits and upped his hitting streak to 10 games.

UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout are set for two more contests on Sunday (April 22) at Tiedemann Field.