UW-Whitewater set a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament record for runs scored in a 21-2 win in the opening game of the tournament Friday afternoon.  UW-W, 32-9, will face host UW-Stevens Point, 30-8, in the second game of the day beginning at 3:00 pm at University Field. 

box score

The twenty-one runs is the most UW-W has scored this season, topping the previous high of 19 the Warhawks scored May 1 in a win at UW-Oshkosh.  It is the most runs Whitewater has scored since totaling 22 in a win over Oshkosh April 28, 2010 in Whitewater. 

Who can explain it?  Every pitch looks like a beach ball to one team's hitters.  It just happens.  On the other side of the coin, less than a week ago, May 7, UW-W pulled out a 1-0 win over UW-La Crosse in thirteen innings.

Senior catcher Rob Coe (Appleton/North) started UW-W off with a two out double in the first.  Senior first baseman Jeff Donovan (Wauwautosa/East) singled him in to put the Warhawks on the scoreboard.

For all practical purposes the game ended in the bottom of the second, with Whitewater scoring five runs on just three hits.  The big blow was a grand slam home run by shortstop Andrew Eichstaedt (Appleton/North), his third home run of the season. 

UW-W added to its lead with six more runs in the third.  The runs scored on just three hits, with UW-O contributing a pair of errors to the run total.  Friend accounted for two runs with a double and later scored on a wild pitch.  The other big hit in the inning was a two run homer by Coe, his third round-tripper of the season.

The hits just kept on coming in the fourth, with Friend plating a pair of runs with a double to give UW-W a 14-0 lead.

The Titans broke through in the fifth with a run.

Donovan's team high seventh home run of the season, a two run shot in the fifth, made it 16-1 Whitewater.  Donovan has 38 career home runs, third in the UW-W record book and tenth in WIAC history.  His three RBI game ups his UW-W record career total to 196, also placing him third in WIAC annals.

More in the sixth, with five runs increasing the total to three touchdowns, 21-1.  Designated hitter Brent Young (Brisbane, Austrailia/Mt. Maria) hit a one out, three run home run, his second of the year.

UW-O managed its second run in the seventh, but the game ended early via the league's run differential rule.

Eichstaedt and Friend knocked in four runs each, equaling the Warhawk high for the season.  As a team, UW-W's twenty runs batted in established a season high.  Coe, Young and Friend collected three hits each, and four Warhawks scored three times apiece.  The four home runs by the Warhawks tied the season high, also accomplished against UW-Oshkosh in a 19-2 win in Oshkosh May 1.  Junior righthander Jack Larsen (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls) went the complete game, yielding four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. 

Matt Wells took the loss for Oshkosh, lasting just two innings.  Wells was the winning pitcher in the Titans' 5-4 victory over UW-W April 30 in Oshkosh.

The winner of the WIAC Tournament receives the league's automatic berth in the NCAA III championship tournament, which begins regional play Wednesday.  UW-Whitewater, although not guaranteed a berth, will host one of eight regionals in the national tourney.