Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team claimed its third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament (presented by Culver's) title Saturday afternoon with a 7-2 victory over UW-Whitewater at Zimmermann Field. The Eagles, ranked 15th on D3baseball.com, improve to 31-9 on the season and earn league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. 

UWL also won the WIAC Tournament in 2012 and 2016. The Eagles will be making their seventh (1998, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023) appearance in the national tournament. The championship field will be announced Monday, May 15 at 11 a.m. 

UW-Whitewater drops to 30-13 on the season. UWL won all six meetings with UW-Whitewater this season, including a 14-4 victory in seven innings in the first round of this year's league tournament. 

The Warhawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Donovan Brandl singled with two outs after UWL's Tyler Schmitt struck out the first two batters. Brandl went to second on a wild pitch and then scored on Adam Cootway's single. 

The Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Anthony Vivian's solo home run. UWL took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third on singles from Chris VandenHeuvel and Jack Olver to start the inning. Vivian followed with a single to score VandenHeuvel to give the Eagles a one-run lead. 

The Eagles extended their lead in the fourth with a pair of runs. George Seaman and Jordan Williams walked to lead-off the inning and Jack Moran's infield single loaded the bases. After a strikeout, Olver's single knocked in Seaman to give UWL a 3-1 lead. Williams then scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1. 

UW-Whitewater cut the margin to 4-2 in the sixth, but UWL responded with a run in the bottom of the frame. Cootway had a sacrifice fly scoring Matt Scolan for the Warhawks in the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, Williams doubled and went to third on a wild pitch. VandenHeuvel's sacrifice fly knocked in Williams for a 5-2 lead. 

UWL added single runs in the seventh and eighth. Vivian hit his second home run of the game and 16th of the year in the seventh. His 16 home runs ties the single-season school record of Born set last year. Williams singled to lead-off the bottom of the eighth, moved to second on Moran's bunt single and advanced to third on a UW-Whitewater throwing error. Williams then scored on VandenHeuvel's fielder's choice for a 7-2 lead. 

Schmitt (6-2) earned the win, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out six. Caleb Matl went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits. UWL finished with 12 hits as Vivian and Williams each went 3-for-3. Vivian had two home runs, two walks and three RBI while Williams scored three times. Olver went 2-for-5 with an RBI while Moran finished 2-for-4. VandenHeuvel had a pair of RBI. 

Brandl (2-3) took the loss for UW-Whitewater, going 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and four walks with two strikeouts. The Warhawks totaled seven hits with Scolan going 2-for-4.