UW-Whitewater lost for the first time this season to State University of New York Cortland 17-9 on Saturday in Winterhaven, Florida.  The game is the third for the Warhawks on their spring trip and they now boast a 5-1 record.  Cortland State, ranked 17th in the d3baseball.com preseason poll, is now 9-5 overall.

Box Score

UW-W got behind in the second inning after a Dragon double scored two runs and a single scored one more.  However, the 'Hawks answered in the bottom of the frame with four runs to take the early 4-3 lead.  The four-run inning for the Warhawks was highlighted by a Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) three-run homer.

Cortland answered right back in the top of the third with two runs and never looked back.  Another two in the top of the fifth and then a big sixth inning where they scored seven gave Cortland a 14-4 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ) and Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland) scored to bring the score to 14-6 but another three runs for Cortland in the top of the eighth made it 17-6.

UW-W scored a few runs in the bottom of the eighth; the first in a bases loaded situation when Stine was hit by a pitch.  Their next run came from a Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) single and the final run came on another hit by pitch with the bases loaded.

Beyer went 4-for-5 on the day with three RBIs and two runs.  Three other Warhawks to record multiple hits were Nick Rechlitz (Milwaukee/Marquette), Tim Conroy (Barrington, IL/Barrington), and Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale).  Kuhlmann drove in three runs in the game.

Mike Assmann earned the victory for Cortland State going seven innings while giving up nine hits and six runs while striking out five.  Aaron Leitner (Chilton/Chilton ) took the loss for UW-W and is 1-1 for the season.

The 'Hawks return to action on Sunday in Winterhaven when they face Salem State University in an 8:00 am game.  The Warhawks will remain in Florida until the 25th of March.  Their first home game is on March 27th against Ripon College in a twinbill beginning at 1:00 pm at James B. Miller Stadium.

For additional information, John Vodenlich