The No. 2 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team made several strong defensive plays to back a potent offense Friday in a doubleheader sweep over Ripon at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The Warhawks (8-2 overall) downed the Red Hawks 15-3 in the opener, which ended after seven innings due to run rule, and tallied an 11-5 triumph in the nightcap.
In Game 1, senior centerfielder Dayton Bryden hit for the cycle for the second time in five days, finishing 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and one run batted in. He tallied a leadoff home run before singling in the second, doubling in the third and tripling in the fifth.
Senior first baseman Blake Fleischman and senior right fielder Brett Krause collected three RBI apiece. Senior catcher Mike Aiello plated two runs, and junior designated hitter Cal Aldridge finished 2-for-2 and scored four runs.
Junior left fielder Matt Wary and junior shortstop Nick Schrader each finished with two hits.
Senior Heath Renz pitched the first five innings for the win, improving to 2-0 on the season. Junior Sam Heilenbach tossed two shutout frames in relief.
After the Red Hawks (3-10) tied the game with two runs in the top of the second, UW-Whitewater took the lead for good in the bottom half of the frame. Fleischman and Krause knocked in runs, and the Warhawks took advantage of two Ripon errors.
UW-Whitewater added two more runs in the fourth on a base hit by Krause and a single from Aiello, and registered six runs in the fifth. Schrader started the big inning on a run-scoring double to plate Bryden, who tripled with one out. Two batters later, Fleischman hit a two-run triple down the right field line. Aiello and Wary added RBI hits later in the inning.
The second game started in similar fashion to the first, as the Red Hawks tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the third. The Warhawks scored one in the first as Bryden came around from second on Aldridge's groundout after going on the pitch. Sophomore left fielder Nick Jensen hit a sacrifice fly, and Bryden hit a two-out double to score another run.
The Warhawks took the lead for good in the bottom of the third as freshman third baseman Nick Santoro and Aiello plated runs, and Jensen knocked an RBI single with two outs to make it 6-3.
Bryden tripled to lead off the fourth, and Schrader plated the centerfielder on a groundout to make it a four-run advantage.
Ripon closed the gap to two with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but UW-Whitewater registered strong defensive plays to help end threats in both frames. In the fifth, Krause threw out a runner at the plate to end a Red Hawk rally, and Aiello nailed a runner trying to steal second with one out in the sixth.
Santoro and Aiello gave the Warhawks breathing room with back-to-back, two-out triples. Santoro's plated two runs, and Aiello's plated Santoro.
Sophomore pitcher Riley Gruetzmacher came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth and picked up a strikeout to end another Ripon threat. He finished the game to earn his second save of the year.
Senior Austin Jones improved to 2-1 on the season after pitching the first five frames. Junior Michael Kaska and freshman Matt O'Sullivan bridged the gap between Jones and Gruetzmacher. The foursome combined to strand 11 Red Hawk runners.
The Warhawks open Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Illinois Tech starting at 1 p.m. in Chicago.