UW-Whitewater's 2013 season came to an end Friday with a 3-2 ten inning loss to the College of Saint Scholastica at the Whitewater Regional of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Tournament.
The Saints got on the board first. In the bottom of the second three consecutive CSS batters singled for a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, with two out, Mikole Pierce walked and moved to third on a single to right by Sam Keller Jr. Pierce scored when a ball hit by David Cladis rolled under the second baseman's glove for a 1-1 tie.
Saint Scholastica used a single by Austin Colvard, his steal of second, and Kyle Jensen's single up the middle to take a 2-1 lead.
Whitewater knotted the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth. Steve Bartlein singled and moved to second when Mike Mierow walked. JT Schneider's ball down the left field line brought in the tying run.
And that's where it stayed until the tenth. The first batter of the inning, Jensen, was hit by a pitch. Whitewater changed pitchers. The second batter of the inning was hit by a pitch. The next batter up grounded into a fielder's choice, putting runners at first and third with one out. Parker Olson hit a ball to shallow left that UW-W's JT Schneider caught with a diving effort, and Schneider popped up to make a throw to the plate that wasn't in time to catch pinch runner Jesse Heaton's winning run.
UW-W starter Matt Roberts went nine innings, giving up seven hits and two walks, with six strikeouts. Mickie Keuning went the first eight innings for CSS, yielding five hits and five walks, with two strikeouts. Thomas Rogers, picked up his first decision of the season with two innings of two hit relief. Jensen led CSS with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, while Keller and Bartlein had two hits apiece for Whitewater.
UW-Whitewater had defeated CSS during the regular season, winning 15-3 and 5-3 in a doubleheader in Whitewater May 1.
Whitewater finished the season with a 35-9 record, the sixth highest victory total in school history. Saint Scholastica, 29-10 overall and 2-1 in the regional, will face UW-Stevens Point, 37-9 and 2-0, at 6:00 Friday night in the double elimination regional.
UW-W opened the regional with a 2-0 win over Case Western Reserve University Wednesday, then lost to UW-Stevens Point 7-6 in ten innings Thursday night.