The UW-Whitewater baseball team needed to defeat UW-Oshkosh (24-16) on Friday to remain alive in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament and they did just that defeating the Titans 12-2 in 7 innings. The Warhawks (25-16) lost to UW-Stevens Point earlier in the day but the win over the Titans puts them in the championship game of the four team tournament.
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The Warhawks took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never gave it up. A
Kevin Zalnis (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) homerun drove in all three of the first frame's runs.
A
Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) two-run homer in the top of the fourth gave the Warhawks a 5-0 advantage. Another three runs in the top of the sixth pushed the lead to 8-0. Beyer singled to drive in one and
Rob Coe (Appleton/North) singled to drive in the other two.
A Nolan Fadness single in the bottom of the sixth gave the Pointers their first run and a Kyle Kannenberg single later in the inning drove in their final run.
As the sun began to set the Warhawks scored four runs in the top of the seventh to increase their cushion to ten and therefore met the requirements of the ten-run rule. Another Beyer homer drove in three of the runs while an
Adam Francour (Wausaukee/Wausaukee) single drove in the other. The Pointers went three up and three down in the bottom of the seventh and the game ended.
Jason Hooper (Lake Mills/Lake Mills) pitched five shutout innings for the 'Hawks before giving up the two runs in the sixth.
Williams Lovera (Tinaquillo, Venezuela/Tinaquillo) then came on in relief. Hooper earned the win and improves to 7-3 this season. Hooper only gave up three hits, however he did hit five batters.
The Warhawks will face UW-Stevens Point on Saturday at noon in Whitewater at Prucha Field. The Warhawks and Pointers have played five times this season with Whitewater holding the series lead at 4-1. If UW-Whitewater defeats Stevens Point in the noon game, they will play again at 3:00 p.m. to determine which team receives the automatic qualifying spot in the NCAA Division III World Series.
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