It's been the same formula for most of the year … solid pitching + timely hitting = winning. No reason to abandon that strategy now. The Warhawks scored five of their ten runs with two outs and used three strong pitching performances to defeat St. Thomas 10-4 Sunday to advance to the championship game of the NCAA Division III World Series at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin. UW-W, 43-7, will take the day off Monday and will play against either St. Thomas, Emory or Southern Maine in the national championship game Tuesday at 11 am.
The Tommies scored first after a frightening moment on the mound in the top of the fourth. Tim Kuzniar hit a line drive up the middle that glanced off the side of Brock Liston (Darien, IL/Joliet Catholic)'s head. After an extensive check by the training staff and coaches, Liston remained in the game. Perhaps shaken up by the incident, Liston gave up a single and a walk to the next two batters to load the bases. He followed with a balk and the Tommies took a 1-0 lead. Coach John Vodenlich lifted Liston from the game in favor of Connor Hurst (Waunakee/Waunakee) and Hurst got the Warhawks out of the inning without any further damage.
UW-W first baseman Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) evened the score in the bottom of the fourth clocking his second homer of the championship, a solo shot to left field.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) gave the Warhawks the lead with a rare RBI on a hit by pitch. Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) added two more to the lead with a single through the right side in the next at bat and the Warhawks led 4-1 after five.
Hurst remained strong on the rubber until the top of the eighth. After back-to-back walks, Hurst surrendered a double over leftfielder Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine)'s head and the Tommies plated one to cut the lead to 4-2. Austin Jones (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa West) came on in relief with runners on second and third and gave up a sacrifice fly to deep center and the Warhawk lead shrunk to one. Jones got out of the inning in the next at bat to preserve the lead.
That timely hitting thing … that happened in the eighth in a big way. Switch hitting Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) led off from the left side of the plate and shot one up the middle against Tommie submariner Greg Clute. He moved to third on a single by Power and scored on a fielder's choice by Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine) to give UW-W a 5-3 lead. The Warhawks tacked on two more when last night's hero, Nick Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest), ripped a single up the middle with the bases loaded. Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) doubled to left center in the next at bat to score one more and Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) followed with a sacrifice fly to plate UW-W's ninth run of the game. Gonzalez notched his second RBI of the game in the ensuing at bat singling up the middle to give the Warhawks a 10-3 lead heading into the ninth.
The Tommies added a run in the ninth but Jones slammed the door on the rally to preserve the Warhawk win. Hurst earned the win to improve to 6-2 and Jones got the save, his third of the year.
Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) went 4-for-5 in the game with two runs and one RBI to lead the Warhawks from the plate. Liston, Hurst and Jones combined to scatter eight hits while striking out four.
Monday noon (12:00) Emory University, 36-12, will play Southern Maine, 37-14, in an elimination game. The winner of that game will play St. Thomas at 3:30 in another elimination game Monday. The remaining team will play UW-Whitewater at 11:00 Tuesday. If necessary, because of the double elimination format, another (final) game will be played Tuesday at 2:30.
This will be UW-W's second appearance in the national championship game, their first coming in 2005 when they captured the program's lone national title.
Postgame press conference
The Tommies scored first after a frightening moment on the mound in the top of the fourth. Tim Kuzniar hit a line drive up the middle that glanced off the side of Brock Liston (Darien, IL/Joliet Catholic)'s head. After an extensive check by the training staff and coaches, Liston remained in the game. Perhaps shaken up by the incident, Liston gave up a single and a walk to the next two batters to load the bases. He followed with a balk and the Tommies took a 1-0 lead. Coach John Vodenlich lifted Liston from the game in favor of Connor Hurst (Waunakee/Waunakee) and Hurst got the Warhawks out of the inning without any further damage.
UW-W first baseman Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) evened the score in the bottom of the fourth clocking his second homer of the championship, a solo shot to left field.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth Michael Gonzalez (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) gave the Warhawks the lead with a rare RBI on a hit by pitch. Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) added two more to the lead with a single through the right side in the next at bat and the Warhawks led 4-1 after five.
Hurst remained strong on the rubber until the top of the eighth. After back-to-back walks, Hurst surrendered a double over leftfielder Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine)'s head and the Tommies plated one to cut the lead to 4-2. Austin Jones (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa West) came on in relief with runners on second and third and gave up a sacrifice fly to deep center and the Warhawk lead shrunk to one. Jones got out of the inning in the next at bat to preserve the lead.
That timely hitting thing … that happened in the eighth in a big way. Switch hitting Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) led off from the left side of the plate and shot one up the middle against Tommie submariner Greg Clute. He moved to third on a single by Power and scored on a fielder's choice by Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine) to give UW-W a 5-3 lead. The Warhawks tacked on two more when last night's hero, Nick Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest), ripped a single up the middle with the bases loaded. Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) doubled to left center in the next at bat to score one more and Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) followed with a sacrifice fly to plate UW-W's ninth run of the game. Gonzalez notched his second RBI of the game in the ensuing at bat singling up the middle to give the Warhawks a 10-3 lead heading into the ninth.
The Tommies added a run in the ninth but Jones slammed the door on the rally to preserve the Warhawk win. Hurst earned the win to improve to 6-2 and Jones got the save, his third of the year.
Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) went 4-for-5 in the game with two runs and one RBI to lead the Warhawks from the plate. Liston, Hurst and Jones combined to scatter eight hits while striking out four.
Monday noon (12:00) Emory University, 36-12, will play Southern Maine, 37-14, in an elimination game. The winner of that game will play St. Thomas at 3:30 in another elimination game Monday. The remaining team will play UW-Whitewater at 11:00 Tuesday. If necessary, because of the double elimination format, another (final) game will be played Tuesday at 2:30.
This will be UW-W's second appearance in the national championship game, their first coming in 2005 when they captured the program's lone national title.
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