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.
May 12, 2012
UW-La Crosse wins WIAC title
More news about: UW-La Crosse
UW-Whitewater
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UW-La Crosse
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Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UW-Whitewater (29-15) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
UW-La Crosse (33-9) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 9 | 14 | 2 |