UW-Whitewater captured one pitching duel and won the other contest with an offensive explosion as the nationally-ranked Warhawks took both games of a baseball doubleheader with UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday (April 21) in Whitewater.

The Warhawks (24-2/13-1 WIAC), ranked second in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, got seven strong innings and four strikeouts from Jeff Donovan to take the opener, 2-1. In the second contest, a five-run seventh inning pushed the home squad over the top, 8-5.

UW-Whitewater got going early with a two-out single by Jeff Donovan in the opening frame of game one. A wild pickoff attempt allowed him to advance. Aaron Dressnandt (So. • Mukwonago) then tossed a pair of wild pitches to let in the run.

Mike Kenseth got hit by a pitch to start the Warhawks' threat in the second. The Titans (12-16/5-9 WIAC) fired a passed ball, walked a batter and hit another one with a pitch. Daniel Putnam made UW-Oshkosh pay when he singled to make it a 2-0 lead.

The Titans put two men on base during the fifth inning, but that was their only threat before the seventh. Mickey Fadness (Sr. • Eau Claire), who marked three of UW-Oshkosh's four hits, drilled a double. One batter later, Lucas Wirth (Sr. • Omro) posted a run-scoring double to slice the deficit in half.

Dressnandt suffered the loss after walking three and allowing one earned run in four innings. Andrew Murphy (Fr. • Suamico) followed with 2.2 scoreless innings and Troy Mrkvicka (So. • Greendale) added four perfect outs to close the game.

Riley Tincher retired each of the three batters he faced for the Warhawks, while Ben Versnik recorded a scoreless ninth frame for the save. UW-Whitewater had four players record one hit apiece in the contest.

The Titans went ahead during the third inning of the nightcap on Blake Berger's (Jr. • Star Prairie) single. UW-Whitewater battled back to go ahead, 3-1, in the sixth frame when Ben Kuhlmann and Jordan Stine each drove in a run before another touched the plate on a fielding error.

The seventh frame, which featured seven total runs, was the turning point. After UW-Oshkosh equaled the score on a Mrkvicka home run and Kyle Kannenberg's (Sr. • Oshkosh) single, the Warhawks took advantage of poor Titan defense. UW-Whitewater used a pair of errors to set up four run-scoring singles, as Daniel Putnam's hit gave his team the lead and Kenseth's rip ended the rally to make it 8-3.

Derek Layton (Fr. • Cross Plains), who paced the Titans with two hits in the game, recorded an RBI single during the eighth frame. UW-Oshkosh then tallied its final run on a bases-loaded walk by Nolan Fadness (Jr. • Eau Claire).

Putnam finished the day with three hits to lead the Warhawks, who awarded Tincher with the pitching victory. Tincher yielded one run in one frame, while Aaron Leitner allowed one earned run during the first six innings. Versnik struck out two of the four batters he faced to pick up his fifth save of the season.

Titans' starter Luke Westphal (So. • Clintonville) tossed five scoreless innings before Mrkvicka came in and surrendered three runs without getting an out. Kannenberg fired the last three innings, taking the loss after allowing four earned runs.