La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse basetball team earned a doubleheader sweep of nationally-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field.  The Eagles won the opener, 6-3, and the nightcap, 5-3.  UW-L improves to 20-8 overall and 12-2 in the WIAC while UW-Whitewater falls to 18-9 overall and 8-4 in the conference.  The Warhawks are ranked 29th on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Poll and 20th on D3baseball.com while the Eagles are receiving votes in both polls.

UW-L improved to 10-0 at home this season as it won seventh and eighth straight game overall.

In the opener, UW-L took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.  Adam Cordova opened the frame with a walk and stole second.  He then scored on Jay Fanta's single.  UW-Whitewater tied the contest in the top of the fifth as Steve Bartlein scored on a Michael Gonzalez single.

The Warhawks scored a pair of runs in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. Dylan Friend tripled home Matt Beyer to make it 2-1 and Friend scored one-out later on Marty Herum's single.  The Eagles came right back to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame as Cordova scored on a wild pitch and Fanta scored on a Trevor Burmeister single.

UW-L tallied three times in the bottom of the seventh.  Corey Geary doubled to start the inning followed by a Cole Cefalu single.  Geary then scored on a Warhawks' wild pitch with Cefalu advancing to third.  After a Brooks Braga walk, Cordova had an RBI single to score Cefalu to make it 5-3.  Braga later scored on a fielding error.

Tim Verthein (3-4) picked up the win, pitching 9.0 innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks with five strikeouts.  Cefalu and Cordova were 2-for-3 while Geary finished 2-for-4.  Cordova scored two runs with an RBI while Cefalu and Geary each scored once.

Kyle Stewart (7-1) took the loss for UW-Whitewater, going 6.0 innings, allowing seven hits, six runs (five earned) and five walks while striking out seven.  Five different players had a hit for the Warhawks.

In the nightcap,the Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Fanta's home run.  The Warhawks tied the game on Friend's home run.  UW-L took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the third as Cefalu walked with two outs and scored on Braga's two-run home run.

UW-L added two runs in the fifth to lead 5-1 as Cordova scored on a UW-Whitewater error and Burmeister hit an RBI double to score Fanta.  The Warhawks cut the lead to 5-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth.  Friend scored on a UW-L error and Ryan Leavitt had a sacrifice fly.

UW-Whitewater loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, but Marty Herum lined into a double play to end the game.

Garrett Scray (4-3) earned the win for UW-L, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing six hits, three runs (one earned) and one walk with five strikeouts.  Skyler Debilzen pitched 0.2 of an inning while Zach Lauersdorf picked up his third save of the season, going 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and one walk with one strikeout.

Fanta and Burmeister each went 3-for-4 with an RBI.  Fanta also scored twice.  Braga finished with two RBI.

Aaron Leitner (1-2) suffered the loss, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing six hits, five runs (four earned) and three walks while striking out one.

Friend and Fon were 2-for-5.  Friend finished with two runs and an RBI while Fon scored once.

The teams play another twinbill Sunday, April 22 starting at noon.