The UW-Whitewater baseball team split a doubleheader with the College of St. Scholastica Tuesday at Prucha Field in James B. Miller Stadium in Whitewater dropping the first game 5-4 in ten innings and winning the second game 4-2.  The Warhawks and Saints also split a doubleheader in 2011 and met again in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Midwest Regional with the Warhawks prevailing 6-3 to advance to the World Series.  UW-W is now 18-7 this season and the Saints are 21-9.
 
In the first game the Saints struck first and took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third.  The leadoff batter reached on a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.  The Warhawks then issued a walk but followed with a strikeout.  With two outs the Saints did their damage, first with an RBI single to left, then, after a batter was hit by a pitch, a triple that scored three. 
 
UW-W fired back quickly and cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning.  Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington).  Two batters later, Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) reached on a single and later came around to score when Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) hit his fifth double of the season.
 
Beyer made it 4-3 when he reached on an error by the Saints' shortstop in the bottom of the fifth and came around to score when Friend followed with a triple to center.  Jared Fon (Germantown) tied the game on the next at bat when he hit a grounder to second that scored Friend.
 
With two outs in the top of the seventh and a runner at second Friend robbed a would-be extra base hit and run from the Saints with a diving catch in center.
 
Matthew Roberts (Manitowoc /Roncalli) got himself into, and out of, a bit of trouble in the top of the ninth.  Roberts came on in relief of Jack Larsen (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls) with no outs in the inning and walked the first batter he faced.  The Saints used a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over to second for the first out and then Roberts struck out the next batter.  With two outs a wild pitch moved the go-ahead run to third, but Roberts got the next batter to look at strike three to escape unscathed and preserve the tie.
 
The Warhawks went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and the game went to extras.
 
With two outs and a runner on third in the top of the tenth Roberts couldn't muster the same magic of the ninth and gave up a bloop single to right to give the Saints a 5-4 lead.
 
UW-W went down 1-2-3 again in the bottom of the tenth to end the game and snap a six game winning streak.
 
Quintin Zander (Black Earth/Wisconsin Heights) got his first start of the season for the Warhawks and pitched four and two-thirds before giving way to Jack Larsen (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls).  Zander struck out three, walked one, and gave up four runs during his first start.
 
The Saints wasted no time in game two taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after the leadoff batter tripled and scored on a grounder.
 
UW-W snatched the lead away from the Saints in the bottom of the first when Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) hit a two RBI single up the middle.  Then with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth the Warhawks went up 3-1 on a Travis Wessels (Tomah/Tomah) sacrifice fly to center that plated Leavitt.
 
Friend notched his third RBI of the day in the bottom of the seventh on a single to right field that scored Andrew Bauer (Hartland /Arrowhead) and pushed the Warhawks out ahead 4-1.
 
Kerndt kept the Saints' bats at bay until the top of the eighth when he gave up a run after a leadoff double followed by a single.  Another single, followed by a double play and a fly out and the Warhawks were out of the inning with a 4-2 lead.
 
Kerndt was lifted after issuing a walk to the first batter in the ninth in favor of Aaron Leitner (Chilton/Chilton).  Leitner got the next batter to ground into a 5-4-3 double play and followed with a strikeout to earn the save and preserve the victory.
 
Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) led the offensive charge on Tuesday going 4-for-8 with three RBI and two runs.  Herum also chipped in four hits on nine at bats with two RBIs and one run.
 
The Warhawks will travel to UW-La Crosse on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at noon.  La Crosse currently resides in first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a record of 10-2.  The Warhawks are in second with a record of 8-2.
 
For additional information, John Vodenlich, UW-W head coach