The Warhawks swept their non-conference doubleheader with The College of St. Scholastica, 15-5 and 5-3, Wednesday at Miller Stadium at Prucha Field in Whitewater. UW-W improves to 30-5 overall and St. Scholastica drops to 20-9. As important as the two wins were Wednesday, the Warhawks may have had an eye on a score further north. In conference action UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Stevens Point, 12-7, thus delivering the good news that the Warhawks have claimed the outright regular season title in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Meanwhile, back in Whitewater, neither team wasted time scoring in game one. A triple to right field followed by a ground-rule double to right center gave the Saints a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) lifted the Warhawks ahead 2-1 after a two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the inning.
St. Scholastica knotted the score at two with a solo homerun in the second and took the lead later in the inning on an RBI single up the middle by centerfielder Austin Colvard.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the second, JT Schneider led off with a triple to left center. After two quick outs, one advancing Schneider to second, Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) singled to right to bring Schneider home and tie the game at three. Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) followed with his sixth homerun of the year to make it 5-3 in favor of the Warhawks.
The Warhawks extended their lead to 9-3 in the sixth scoring four runs on four hits. Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) and Friend led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Both moved up a base on a wild pitch and Herum walked to load the bases. Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) smacked a single to left that scored two and David Cladis (Joliet, IL/Joliet Catholic) followed with a double down the left field line to score two more.
St. Scholastica added a run to make it 9-4 in the fifth but the Warhawks got that run back, and two more, in the bottom of the sixth. Steve Bartlein (South Milwaukee/South Milwaukee) singled to right to bring in two and Gonzalez singled three batters later to bring in one more.
UW-W made it 13-4 in the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Pierce to left field that scored Fon.
St. Scholastica notched a run in the eighth to make it 13-5, but UW-W ended it early by taking a ten run lead after scoring two in the bottom of the inning to make it 15-5. Sam Keller Jr. (Milwaukee/Riverside) was the walk-off hero as he came in as a pinch hitter and belted a two-run homer to left center, his first homerun of the season.
Justin Lambert (Mt. Horeb/Mt. Horeb) improved to 7-1 this season after pitching six and a third and scattering four runs and four strikeouts.
Game two developed a bit slower than game one. Just like game one St. Scholastica took the lead in the first inning scoring one run on a single through the left side of the infield.
An inning and a half later the Warhawks took a 2-1 lead after solo homeruns by Pierce and Keller. Keller's homeruns, his first as a pinch hitter in game one, came in consecutive plate appearances.
St. Scholastica tied the game at two in the third when a double by Kyle Flagstad plated Austin Colvard. Colvard scored again in the fifth on a fielder's choice to give the Saints a 3-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth Keller Jr. led off with a walk and came all the way around to score, and tie the game, when Bartlein doubled to deep left center in the next at bat. UW-W used a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly in the next two at bats to plate Bartlein and go ahead 4-3.
The Warhawks padded their lead with a run in the sixth to make it 5-3 when Keller Jr. drove in his second run of the game and fourth of the day.
Colin Grove (Beloit/Beloit Memorial) did the rest. Grove kept the Saints' bats at bay to earn the save pitching three and a third, giving up just two hits and striking out three. Scott Plaza (Arlington Heights, IL/Prospect) made the start and earned the win to improve to 6-0 this season. Plaza went five and two-thirds and struck out five while giving up eight hits and three runs.
Now back to that conference title. The league crown is the tenth for UW-Whitewater since the 2000 season and fourteenth in program history. The regular season WIAC title means UW-W has earned the number one seed in the conference tournament and the right to host the four-team event. The double-elimination WIAC tournament begins on May 11 at 10:00 am at Miller Stadium at Prucha Field in Whitewater.
UW-W's next game will be a single game against Concordia (WI) next Tuesday, May 7 in Whitewater at 4:00 pm. UW-W will then finish up regular season play next Wednesday hosting a doubleheader with WIAC foe UW-Platteville beginning at 1:00 pm.