June 2, 2025

UWW pours it on to book return to D3CS

More news about: UW-Whitewater

Batting

Rowan
2B: Damon Suriani
3B: none
HR: none
UW-Whitewater
2B: Matt Scolan; Adam Cootway
3B: none
HR: Sam Paden
full stats

By Patrick Coleman
D3sports.com

EASTLAKE, Ohio - UW-Whitewater continued to swing a hot bat in Eastlake, the Warhawks took advantage of some late-game miscues by Rowan and then got deep into the Profs’ bullpen as they advanced to the Division III Championship Series for the second consecutive season, defeating the Profs 17-4.

The Warhawks (47-6) will face Messiah in the best-of-three Division III Championship Series, which was originally scheduled to start on Wednesday, June 4. However, because of weather, the D3CS will start on Tuesday, June 3, at 3 p.m. Game 2, and if necessary, Game 3, are scheduled for Wednesday, June 4.

Adam Cootway, the hottest hitter in the Division III World Series, continued to swing the stick on Monday as his two-run double to the right-center field wall sparked a three-run inning, helping UW-Whitewater take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth.

Matt Scolan slides in safely on Adam Cootway's two-run double which gave UW-Whitewater the lead for good. .
 Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com | More photos from this game to come
 

"It was a 3-0 count and I vowed to myself a couple years ago that I would never swing 3-0, but I was really wanting to that time," said Cootway, who popped up the last time he swung on a 3-0 pitch, in a summer league game. "I saw his fastball and then kind of just timed it up and it was kind of from there, just able to swing and put a good swing on it and backside. Even if it wasn't a double, I was just glad to get a good swing on.

Cootway leads all batters at the Division III World Series in batting average (.667), total bases (19) and on-base percentage (.688). He has gone 10-for-15 and has hit two home runs and driven in six runs.

The Warhawks ran their way into four runs in the seventh inning to help put the game away, as Whitewater walked twice, reached on a hit by pitch, and scored two runs on passed balls, on consecutive pitches. After the two passed balls, and a walk by Dominik McVay, Aaron Holland smacked the ball through the drawn-in infield for two RBI to make it 9-4.

"When they bring the infield in, I just take it as more of an opportunity," said Holland. "It kind of opens up the field a little bit, makes it hard to get, a hard ball in the hole."

Rowan came into the day needing to defeat Whitewater twice to advance to the Division III Championship Series, and the Profs took a 2-1 lead in the second, and a 3-2 lead in the fifth before Whitewater’s relentless offense began to break through.

Sam Paden tacked on a three-run homer in the eighth and the Warhawks brought 12 batters to the plate, pushing across eight runs to secure the win. Whitewater 

"If you were to look at performance all season long ... it's not rocket science, but uh, our guys are trying to make the game as long as we possibly can for the opposing staff,
 said UW-Whitewater coach John Vodenlich. "And I thought we did that today."

Sophomore Ethan Wickman came on in the sixth inning to relieve Max Huseboe, the Warhawks' starting pitcher, and provided two and one-third innings of hitless, shutout relief. It came in stark contrast to his Championship Series in 2024, where he gave up three runs in one-third of an inning to Misericordia, and had a 9.00 ERA in the World Series. Today's performance included a diving catch Matt Scolan in the top of the seventh, when the Profs had a runner on second and the game was still 5-4 Whitewater. "That's always good. These guys have been playing behind me all year and it's just great team effort."