At first glance (and maybe even a second look) UW-Whitewater's 13-11 win over Adrian College Monday in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III World Series in Grand Chute, Wisconsin would not look like a thing of beauty. But the win propels the Warhawks, 42-9, into another game Sunday afternoon against Johns Hopkins University, 40-7. The winner of Sunday's late game will play Trinity University, 44-0, at 11:00 Tuesday in the Division III championship game.
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But look behind the numbers. Greg Donovan (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa East) was tabbed as the Warhawks' starting pitcher. Donovan had not started a game this year, and his last appearance was two-plus innings May 4 versus UW-Stevens Point. It's a baseball cliche, but Donovan "clutched up". In a game where UW-W needed someone to eat innings and keep them in the game, he went five innings and gave up just three earned runs, eventually earning the win to raise his record to 2-0.
UW-W also knew that with an untried starter the bats would have to be alive, and UW-W followed that plan to the letter, pounding out 16 hits. Tom Donovan (Wauwatosa/West Allis Hale) hit his eleventh home of the season, and Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) hit his eighteenth to tie Brady Endl (2004) and Pat Tobiasz (1998) for the school single season record. Donovan went 3x4, with four RBI's and a pair of runs scored. Second baseman Ben Kuhlman (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) went 3x5, and senior shortstop Greg Harder (Waukesha/Waukesha West) was 3x4 with three RBI's and two runs. Three other Warhawks, Zalnis, leftfielder Ben Prather (Chicago, IL/James B. Conant), and junior centerfielder Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill), collected two hits apiece.
Adrian's offense can't be overlooked either, as the Bulldogs pounded out fifteen hits against four Warhawk pitchers. Designated hitter Bobby Rickstad was 4x4 with four runs batted in and two runs scored to pace Adrian's attack. Josh Lancaster, the Adrian starter, went two innings and took the loss to end the season 2-3.
Adrian, from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, ends the season 36-13.
