AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team flexed its offensive muscle and received strong pitching Wednesday in a two-game sweep of fourth-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.) in a non-conference doubleheader at Lake Myrtle Park.
The Warhawks (7-1 overall) recorded a 16-5 triumph in the first game before picking up a 3-1 victory in the nightcap. Both games were completed in seven innings.
In the opener, the Warhawks broke the game open with an 11-run top of the sixth, tallying seven of their 14 hits in the sixth.
Neither team scored until the top of the fifth, when freshman centerfielder Daytona Bryden one-hopped the fence for a run-scoring triple to put UW-Whitewater on the board.
Four batters later, senior first baseman Casey Power sent his first career grand slam deep out to left field, his first homer of the year, to make it 5-0.
The Warhawks opened the sixth with five consecutive hits, including run-scoring hits by Bryden, senior second baseman Nick Kuhlmann and senior left fielder Kyle Haen. Three straight walks sent another run to the plate, and a fielder's choice by senior catcher Mike Mierow made it 11-0.
A two-run double by freshman right fielder Will Helbing and a three-run homer by Kuhlmann, his second of the year, extended UW-Whitewater's advantage to 16-0.
The Tommies (8-4) plated one run in the sixth and four in the seventh.
Junior pitcher Curtis Morgan earned the win, his first of the year. The right-hander replaced Austin Jones with two outs in the bottom of the second and went the rest of the way, striking out three in 5 1/3 innings of relief. Jones left the game with four strikeouts after sustaining an arm injury.
Kuhlmann led the Warhawks with three hits, three runs scored and five runs batted in. Burman registered three hits and scored three runs, while Power recorded four RBIs and reached base three times. Helbing and Bryden knocked in two runs apiece.
In the second game, senior pitcher Colin Grove tossed a complete-game four-hitter, allowing just one earned run while walking one and striking out five. The left-hander, who was perfect through four innings, improved to 2-0 with the win.
Power plated the first run with an RBI single in the bottom of the first to give UW-Whitewater an early lead.
After St. Thomas tied the contest at 1-1 in the top of the fifth, the Warhawks responded in the bottom half with two runs, the second on a run-scoring single by Pierce that upped the team's advantage to two runs.
Grove surrendered a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh, but left the tying run at the plate after inducing his 13th fly ball out of the affair.
UW-Whitewater concludes its nine-game swing in Central Florida tomorrow at 10 a.m. Central Time against Keuka (N.Y.). First pitch will take place at Lake Myrtle Park.