The UW-Whitewater baseball team improved to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wednesday with two wins at UW-Platteville, 8-5 and 12-1 (7 innings).  The Pioneers fall to 4-20 overall and 1-9 in the WIAC.

Kyle Stewart (Onalaska/Onalaska) earned the victory in game one as the Warhawks took a 2-0 lead and never looked back.  The Warhawks' Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) singled in two runs in the first inning to give the Warhawks the first two runs of the game.  They tacked on two more in the top of the third on another Leavitt single.

Platteville retaliated with two in the bottom of the third to make it 4-2 and another in the bottom of the fourth to come within one, but the Warhawks went on to score four unanswered runs to extend their lead to 8-3.  An RBI triple by Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) drove in one run in the fifth, a Travis Wessels (Tomah/Tomah) single to left drove in one in the sixth, and a Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) single plated one and a Herum single plated another in the seventh to account for the other four Warhawk runs.

The Pioneers attempted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth but they could only creep closer at 8-5 before Michael Huckabay (Jefferson/Jefferson) got the Warhawks out of the inning with the win.

Stewart, now 6-0 this season, pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs while walking three and striking out eleven.  The eleven strikeouts by Stewart, combined with two more by Matt Roberts who pitched the seventh and eighth, and three by Huckabay total 16 strikeouts in the game, just one shy of the school record set in 1992.

The second game went a little quicker as it ended up being shortened due to the run rule.  UW-W took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Jared Fon (Germantown) grounder that scored Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker).  UW-W plated another run in the top of the third to go up 2-0 on a throwing error by Platteville.

The host team scored a run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1, but that is all the Pioneers got as the Warhawk pitching and defense shut them out the remainder of the game.

The Warhawk bats on the other hand did not quiet down.  Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) led off the fifth inning with a triple and came in to score when the next batter, Friend, doubled.  Friend came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Herum later in the inning.

A six run sixth propelled the Warhawks out to a 10-1 lead.  The inning was highlighted by a two run single by Herum, a three run homer by Leavitt and an RBI single by Bauer.  Two more in the seventh on a Herum homer to left center gave UW-W a 12-1 lead that held up to end the game.

Eric Schmitz (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) earned the win for the Warhawks pitching five and two-thirds and giving up five hits and just the one Pioneer run.  Schmitz also struck out four and walked none.

Herum totaled seven RBIs in the doubleheader going 6-for-8 with a triple and a homerun.  Leavitt also racked up seven RBIs and was 4-for-6 on the day with a double and a homer.  Herum is batting .436 this season and leads the team in hits, doubles and RBIs.

UW-W will continue conference play on Saturday when they host UW-Stout in a twinbill beginning at 12:00 pm at Prucha Field in James B. Miller Stadium.