The No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team tallied 10 runs in its final three at-bats Thursday night to break open a close game for a 12-1 victory over Monmouth (Ill.) at the NCAA Central Regional at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.
With Thursday's victory, UW-Whitewater, the regional's No. 2 seed, remains in the winner's bracket and faces third-seeded Texas-Tyler, an 8-5 winner over Aurora (Ill.), on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
Leading 2-1 through 5 1/2 innings, the Warhawks (32-6 overall) broke through for five runs in the sixth inning thanks to back-to-back, two-run singles by junior left fielder Matt Wary and sophomore second baseman Connor Schneider.
UW-Whitewater added three more in the seventh on a two-run triple by sophomore right fielder Alex Doud, who was plated two batters later by junior catcher Mike Aiello on a base hit to right.
Junior designated hitter Cal Aldridge capped a big night at the plate with an inside-the-park, two-run homer to left in the eighth. He finished 4-for-5 with three runs and two runs batted in for the night.
Senior first baseman Blake Fleischman collected two hits and three runs scored, and Doud registered three hits, one walk, two runs scored and three RBI.
The Warhawks' offensive output was more than enough for the pitching staff, which combined for 14 strikeouts against only one walk. Junior Sam Heilenbach took the win to improve to 5-1 on the year after tossing the first five innings. Senior Heath Renz and freshman Matt O'Sullivan each pitched one scoreless inning of relief, and sophomore Riley Gruetzmacher allowed only one hit over the final two innings.
Aiello started the scoring for UW-Whitewater in the bottom of the second with an RBI groundout, and Doud padded the lead in the fourth with a run-scoring base hit.
The Scots (28-13-1) drew to within one on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, but the Warhawks' pitchers limited the damage as the team rallied for its large lead in the sixth.
Texas-Tyler (30-16) is an at-large (Pool C) qualifier out of the American Southwest Conference. Friday's meeting will be the first ever for UW-Whitewater against the Patriots.