Tenth-ranked UW-Whitewater and number twenty-one UW-Stevens Point split a doubleheader Sunday at Prucha Field in Whitewater. UW-W won the first game 12-10, and Stevens Point won the nightcap 14-6. With the split UW-W holds a one game lead over UW-Oshkosh, with an 18-4 mark, in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-Oshkosh split two at Platteville on Sunday to improve their won-loss record to 17-5. UW-Stevens Point is in third place at 16-6.
game one box score
game two box score
Game one was a typical WIAC Prucha Field slugfest, with the teams combining for eight home runs, five by the Warhawks.
UW-W first baseman Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa East), the second batter in the bottom of the first, launced the first home run of the day, giving Whitewater a 2-0 lead. Second baseman Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) hit a solo shot in the second to make it 3-0 UW-W. Pointer shortstop Justin Bushong tied it up with a three run homer in the top of the third. Donovan put UW-W back in front, slugging a three run home run to make it 6-3 Whitewater after four innings. Catcher Doug Coe didn't let that lead sit long, clubbing a grand slam to tie the game 7-7 going in to the bottom of the sixth. Typical of the day, in the bottom half of the inning catcher Billy Johnson (Kenosha/Kenosha Tremper) tied it with a lead off homer. Not wanting to break the pattern, UW-SP's Brad Frank drove in two with a home run in the top of the seventh to make it 9-7 Point.
Whitewater's clinching five run seventh was significant not only because third baseman Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) led off with a home run, but that UW-W scored four more runs with just one more hit in the inning. Two UW-SP errors played a role in the rally.
Donovan led the Warhawk offense with six runs batted in, while Coe and centerfielder Brandon Scheidler led the Pointers with three hits apiece.
Game two started out like game one, with designated hitter Thomas Corcoran# plating two with a home run in the bottom of the first to put UW-W in front 2-0. That would prove to be UW-W's final long ball of the day.
Catcher Steve Considine tied the game with a two-run double in the second, and the Pointers and Warhawks scored single runs as the game progressed to a 3-3 tie through five innings.
UW-SP scored five times in the sixth, taking the lead for good, and they added at least one run in the last four innings to win going away.
Leftfielder Joel Hojnacki collected four hits and six RBI's for the Pointers to back winning pitcher Mike Thrun (4-3). Kuhlman went 3x4 for UW-W.
UW-W is 31-6 overall. UW-SP is 25-12 this season. The same teams will meet at Prucha Field, on the north end of the Whitewater campus, for the final regular season doubleheader beginning at 12:00 Monday.
For additional information:
John Vodenlich, UW-W coach
WIAC baseball site
