Twenty-one runs on twenty-six hits equals a sweep of the UW-Stout Blue Devils by the Warhawk baseball team Saturday at Prucha Field in James B. Miller Stadium on the campus of UW-Whitewater. UW-W won game one 10-6 and game two 11-3. The Warhawks are now 15-6 overall and 6-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Blue Devils fall to 13-11 overall and 5-7 in the WIAC.
In game one UW-W's Matthew Roberts (Manitowoc /Roncalli) flew through the first two innings throwing just sixteen pitches to seven batters. He got four of the six outs with one pitch each and struck out the other two.
In between Roberts' efficient pitching the Warhawks grabbed an early lead. With two on and two out in the bottom of the first Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) smacked a double down the left field line to give UW-W a 2-0 lead.
Stout came back to within one scoring on a bases loaded sacrifice fly to center in the top of the third.
UW-W extended their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the third after Jared Fon (Germantown) walked and Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) blasted his second homerun of the year.
Stout cut the Warhawk lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth when Charlie Meyer and Jake Duske went yard back-to-back to start the inning. Three batters later the Warhawk lead vanished as the Blue Devils tied it up at four with a sacrifice fly to center.
UW-W took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth when Mike Mierow (Brookfield/Central) hit a two-run homer to left field, his first of the season. Two batters later, with one out, Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Darien) tallied his first homer of the year to give the Warhawks a three run lead. Still in the sixth, the Warhawks added one more run to their lead on a Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) single through the left side that plated Andrew Bauer (Hartland /Arrowhead). The rally continued as Fon singled through the right side to score Beyer and extend the Warhawk lead to 9-4. After a pitching change the Blue Devils were able to get an out but Leavitt hit a single to left field that plated Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) and gave UW-W a 10-4 lead. Stout finally stopped the bleeding getting the final out after giving up six runs on six hits.
The seventh and eighth were flawless for both teams with each team going three up, three down in their half inning.
Stout's Duske hit a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth, his second homerun of the game, to bring the score to 10-6. Roberts was lifted from the game in favor of Quintin Zander (Black Earth/Wisconsin Heights) who got the final out of the game two batters later.
The Warhawks tallied thirteen hits in the game with Leavitt leading the way with three and Beyer, Herum and Gonzalez each collecting two. Leavitt also notched three RBIs and scored one run.
Roberts earned the victory for the Warhawks to improve to 2-1 this season.
The Warhawks drew first blood in game two, and it was a deep wound. Mike Mierow (Brookfield/Central) and JT Schneider (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the second to go up 1-0. Schneider came around to score when the next batter, Fred Gromalak (Kettle Moriane/Kettle Moraine), singled the first pitch he saw down the left field line to make it 2-0. Tyler Teubert (Janesville/Parker) followed with a double, his first hit of the season in his first at bat of the season, to put runners on second and third. After a ground out, Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) put the Warhawks up four when he did something you don't see too often, he hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score both of the runners and earn two RBIs. With two outs, Jared Fon (Germantown) and Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) hit back-to-back homers to make it 6-0 before Stout could escape the inning.
Starting pitcher Jack Larsen (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls) gave up three runs to Stout with no outs in the top of the third to make it 6-3. Zander came on in relief of Larsen and got the Warhawks out of the inning with no further damage.
Teubert came up with two outs in the bottom of the third and recorded his second hit of the year, a homerun to right center, to give UW-W a 7-3 lead. Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) followed with a single up the middle, Friend walked, and Fon singled through the right side to give UW-W an 8-3 lead.
Mierow extended the UW-W lead to 9-3 when he crushed a ball over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh. Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) followed suit blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to move the Warhawks ahead 11-3.
Tom Kerndt (Lansing, IA/Lansing) and Kyle Lee (Beaver Dam/Beaver Dam) combined to pitch the last two innings without giving up a run. Zander earned the victory, his first of the year, and is now 1-0 this season.
Beyer and Herum each collected four hits in the doubleheader and five Warhawks recorded three RBIs. Herum also extended his team leading hitting streak to twelve games.
UW-W hit three homeruns in the first game and five in the second game. As a team they have 17 homeruns this season, tops in the WIAC.
The Warhawks will host UW-Stout in a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.
For additional information, John Vodenlich