UW-Whitewater raised its record to 10-1 with a sweep of Ripon College in their home opener Saturday. UW-W won their first game 11-1 in seven innings and won the second game 3-1, the first games at the newly renovated Purcha Field at Jim Miller Stadium. 

Game One
game one box

Senior lefthander Riley Tincher (Oregon/Oregon) stymied Ripon, giving up five hits, walking one and striking out six in raising his record to 3-0.

Whitewater had men in scoring position in both the first and second, but it was Ripon that broke a 0-0 deadlock with a run in the top of the fourth on an Adam Grambow double and Dave McFarland RBI single.

UW-W responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, beginning with a two run homer off the bat of third baseman Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill).  A third run scored on a passed ball, and first baseman Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) brought in two with a single.

Whitewater went small ball for a run in the fifth, combining a hit, a hit by pitch, a fielder's choice, an error and a wild pitch to make it 6-1.

The Warhawks tacked on five more in the sixth, three of them on Leavitt's second homer of the day.  

The game was stopped after seven innings because of the run differential rule.

Donovan went 4x4, and Leavitt 3x4 with his five RBI's, to lead the Warhawk offense.  McFarland, 2x3, had two of Ripon's five hits.

Game Two
game two box
Photo Gallery (courtesy of Tom Fick)

Three Warhawk hurlers combined to match Tincher's game one effort, fortunate for UW-W in the low scoring contest.

Ripon again got on the board first, again in the fourth, again with Grambow doubling to start things.  This time Aaron Kastner plated Grambow with a single.

The Red Hawks had men on first and third with one out in the sixth, when UW-W senior righthander Jason Hooper (Lake Mills/Lake Mills) gave way to sophomore righty Kyle Lee (Beaver Dam/Beaver Dam), who got out of the inning with no runs scoring.

In the sixth inning UW-W rightfielder Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland) led off with a single, followed by an RBI double by Donovan.  Centerfielder Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ) was hit by a pitch, and Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) sacrificed the runners to second and third.  Catcher Rob Coe (Appleton/North) brought in both runners with a single through the left side to conclude the scoring in the game.

Hooper went five and a third, giving up the one run on four hits.  He walked two and struck out six.  Lee went two and two thirds, yielding just one hit and whiffing three to up his record to 2-0, and sophomore righthander Ben Versnik (West Allis/Hale) closed out the ninth, striking out the side with one walk.

UW-W's lowest offensive output of the season included just six hits, two by Coe.  Ripon's Jason Wierschke went six and two thirds and took the loss, with Kurt Roeder pitching the final inning and third.

Ripon is 6-6 this season. 

Whitewater will host Marian College April 1 at Prucha Field at Miller Stadium, with the twinbill getting underway at 1:00.

For additional information:  John Vodenlich, UW-W coach