The UW-Whitewater baseball team belted 31 hits en route to 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep of UW-Stout Saturday in Whitewater at Prucha Field in Miller Stadium. UW-W came back from an 8-3 deficit to take game one 10-8, and used a six run eighth to win the second game 11-2. The Warhawks are now 20-4 overall and sit atop the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with an 11-1 record. The Blue Devils fall to 7-16 overall and 1-7 in the league.

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Crystal Meyer, available for purchase)

If you missed the first seven innings of game one, you didn't miss much, in terms of scoring. The Warhawks did score three runs, one at a time, in the second, third and fifth innings, while the Blue Devils notched one in the third. The bottom of the eighth is when things got seriously interesting.

The Blue Devils, the home team on the scoreboard since the games were originally going to be played in Menomonie but got moved to Whitewater due to field conditions, scored seven in the bottom of the eighth. A three-run homerun by designated hitter Colin Pechacek and a two-run double by second baseman Ryan Gangestad, were highlights in the inning as Stout pulled in front.

Down 8-3 entering the ninth, things didn't look so great for the Warhawks. Jared Fon flew out to start the inning, but the next nine batters, including Fon in his second at bat of the inning, reached base. Among those nine were two pinch hitters, both of whom drew walks, one to load the bases and one to score a run with the bases loaded. Five different Warhawks recorded an RBI in the seven run inning as UW-W regained the leag10-8.

Cody Steed came in to pitch the ninth inning and earn the save. Matt Roberts started the game for UW-W, and pitched well, going seven innings and scattering nine hits and one run while striking out two. The middle relievers didn't fare as well with the combination of Alex Egstad and Brock Liston giving up six hits and seven runs.

Game two didn't feature the same dramatics as game one, but it had the same offensive firepower, at least for the Warhawks.

Stout jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Warhawks answered with two in the second. Mikole Pierce led off the inning with a solo homerun to left field. Later in the inning, in his first collegiate start, Casey Power drove in JT Schneider on a single down the left field line.

Although the Warhawks didn't light up the scoreboard over the course of the next four innings, neither did the Blue Devils, thanks in large part to Tom Kerndt. Kerndt gave up just four hits in seven innings and held UW-Stout hitless in the third, fifth, six, and seventh innings.

The Warhawks gave Kerndt some more run support in the seventh, scoring three to make it 5-1. David Cladis led off with a single and Michael Gonzalez followed with a pinch hit homerun to left field. Five batters later Dylan Friend scored on a fielder's choice.

Not satisfied with a four run lead, the Warhawks scored six more in the eighth. UW-W scored the runs one at a time and in a variety of ways. They scored the first on three consecutive singles, the next on a wild pitch, the third on a single up the middle, the fourth on a double, the fifth on a fielder's choice, and the last in a rundown situation.

Colin Grove pitched the final two innings for UW-W and gave up three hits and one run but preserved another victory for the Warhawks. Kerndt earned the win to improve to 4-1 this season.

Casey Power went 3-for-4 in his first start, scoring one and driving in one, but the day belonged to Michael Gonzalez who went 6-for-9 with three runs and six RBIs. Cladis collected five hits in the doubleheader while Fon and Pierce each notched four.

UW-W will face the Blue Devils again on Sunday in a twinbill beginning at noon at Prucha Field at Miller Stadium in Whitewater.