La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament championship with a 9-1 victory over UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field.  It is UW-L's second conference tournament title in school history (2000) as the team earns an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships.  The Eagles improved to 33-9 with the victory over the Warhawks.

The NCAA Division III Championship field will be announced Monday, May 14.

UW-L is ranked 12th on the American Baseball Coaches Assocation (ABCA) Poll and 16th on D3baseball.com while UW-Whitewater is 28th on the ABCA Poll.

Kevin Johnson (5-0) earned the win for UW-L, going 7.0 innings, allowing four hits, one unearned run and three walks while striking out three.  Skyler Debilzen pitched 2.0 innings with one strikeout.

UW-L took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in Saturday's championship game.  Brooks Braga singled with one out and scored on Jay Fanta's two-out double.  The Warhawks tied the game in the top of the second with an unearned run.  Ryan Leavitt singled with one out and advanced to third after a failed pickoff attempt.  He scored on Mike Mierow's RBI groundout.  The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning as Zach Harazin scored on a muffed throw by the Warhawks.

The Eagles scored three times in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.  Brett Jacobson opened the inning with a triple and scored on Harazin's single.  After Trevor Burmeister walked, Garrett Novinski moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.  Cole Cefalu then delivered a two-out two-run double down the left field line to make it 5-1.

Adam Cordova hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and Cefalu had an RBI double to score Corey Geary in the sixth to give the Eagles a 7-1 lead.

Cefalu singled with two outs in the eighth and scored on Braga's two-run home run to finish the scoring.

Eight of nine starters had a hit for UW-L.  Cefalu finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI while Harazin was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.  Braga was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI Fanta finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Tom Kerndt (2-2) suffered the loss for UW-Whitewater, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs and one walk with three strikeouts.

The Warhawks, now 29-15 on the season, advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 13-6 victory over UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon.

Leavitt was 2-for-4 with a run scored versus UW-L.

UW-L returns to action at an NCAA Division III Regional.  The Eagles' opponent as well as the date, time and site will be announced Monday.