The Warhawks combined for 25 runs and 30 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Ripon College Sunday at Prucha Field in James B. Miller Stadium in Whitewater.  The Warhawks won game one 12-7 and game two 13-3 to improve to 10-2 this season.  The Red Hawks fall to 3-9.

The games were originally scheduled to be played at Ripon, but due to poor field conditions the games were moved to Whitewater.  That meant that UW-W was the visitor in each game.

In game one, Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) scored the first run in the top of the first on a ground out by Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere).  Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) singled to score Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) on the next at bat and UW-W was ahead 2-0 after a half an inning.

The Red Hawks knotted it up in the bottom of the frame scoring one on a double and another on a sacrifice fly.

Fon doubled to left to plate Kyle Haen (Madison/Edgewood) in the top of the second and the Warhawks regained the lead, 3-2.

Ripon matched the run again in the bottom of the third and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by third baseman Michael Polcyn.

Fon notched two more RBIs in the top of the sixth when he tripled to center field and gave UW-W a 5-4 advantage.  Gonzalez doubled three at bats later to score Fon and give UW-W a 6-4 lead after five and a half.

Ripon showed resilience by scoring three in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-6, but in the top of the ninth the Warhawks erupted with six runs to go ahead 12-7.  The inning was highlighted by a Nick Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest) two-run homer to left center and a two-RBI single by Pierce.

Scott Plaza (Arlington Heights, IL/Prospect) came into the game in the bottom of the ninth and got the Red Hawks to go down 1-2-3 and preserve the win for UW-W.

Colin Grove (Beloit/Memorial) came on in the third in relief to earn the win notching four strikeouts in five and a third innings.

Game two saw Ripon get on the board first with a single run in the bottom of the second but after that it was all UW-Whitewater.  A two-run homer by Fon in the top of the third gave UW-W a 2-1 lead, a lead they never relinquished.

The Warhawks tacked on three more in the top of the fourth, another three in the fifth (highlighted by another Fon homerun), two more in the sixth, and another three in the ninth.  The Red Hawks did sprinkle in a couple of runs in the fifth, but were never a threat to get back into the game.

Brock Liston (Darien, IL/Joliet Catholic) got the start, and the win, going six innings while striking out seven and giving up three runs.  Donnie Manke (Lodi/Lodi) pitched the seventh and eighth and faced just one over the minimum, while Austin Jones (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa West) closed things out in the ninth.

Fon had himself a day at the plate going 7-for-11, scoring six and knocking in six.  He is hitting .490 in 12 games this season.  Kuhlmann chipped in going 3-for-8 with three runs and four RBIs while Gonzalez collected three RBIs and one run on 6-for-11 from the plate.

Ten different Warhawks collected a hit in the doubleheader that featured eight doubles, three homeruns and two triples by the Warhawks.

The Warhawks will host UW-Platteville on Tuesday, April 1 at 1 pm to open Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.  The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Platteville but has moved to UW-Whitewater due to field conditions.