Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) pounded a homerun in each game as the Warhawks defeated UW-La Crosse 13-10 in game one and 5-4 (10 innings) in game two in La Crosse on Saturday. The Warhawks are 21-2 overall this season and 8-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. La Crosse falls to 8-11 overall and 1-4 in the WIAC.
Game one box score
Game two box score
Donovan got things going right off the bat, literally, homering to left center to give the 'Hawks a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Donovan drove in another run in the bottom of the second on a single and Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) scored on a throwing error to give UW-W a 4-0 lead after two. A Rob Coe (Appleton/North) single in the top of the third scored Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) to extend the Warhawks' lead to five.
The Eagles plated three in the bottom half of three to narrow the gap, but a two-run homer by Leavitt in the top of the fourth stretched the Warhawk lead back to four.
Another run by La Crosse in the bottom of the fourth tightened things up and they eventually took the lead after four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
A six-run eighth gave the Warhawks back the lead for good. The inning included a two-run homerun by Kuhlmann, an RBI single by Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale) and an RBI grounder by Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ). The other two runs were scored on errors.
The Eagles did get two back in the bottom of the ninth but Kyle Lee (Beaver Dam/Beaver Dam) retired three straight to end the game. Lee earned the victory as he came on in relief in the seventh giving up four hits and four runs while striking out four. He is now 5-0 this season.
Two runs in the top of the first gave UW-W the first lead in the second game. Again it was Donovan doing the damage with a two-run homer in the first inning, this time to left field.
UW-L went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first but scored one in the bottom of the second on a sac fly to tighten the game at 2-1 in favor of UW-W.
Donovan also pitched in the game and retired nine of the next eleven batters while holding La Crosse without another run until the bottom of the sixth when they tied things up 2-2 on an RBI single by Jay Fanta.
UW-W took back the lead in the top of the seventh when Kuhlmann scored on a wild pitch and added another in the top of the eighth on a solo homerun by Nick Rechlitz (Milwaukee/Marquette).
UW-L again knotted the score at 4-4 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth after a homerun by Zach Harazin.
Neither team could score in the ninth so it was on to bonus baseball. Kenseth doubled to start the tenth and advanced to third on a sac bunt by Tim Conroy (Barrington, IL/Barrington). Rechlitz lined out to the first baseman in an attempt to get home the go-ahead run, but Kenseth ended up scoring on a wild pitch to give the Warhawks the lead for good.
Things did get interesting in the bottom of the tenth as Jason Hooper (Lake Mills/Lake Mills) came in and walked the first batter, Corey Geary. La Crosse laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second and then a single moved him to third. With runners at the corners and one out, Hooper got Harazin to fly out to right and Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland) gunned down Geary at the plate to complete the double-play and the game.
Lee earned the victory in game two pitching just one scoreless inning and facing the minimum number of batters. Hooper earned his first save of the season.
Donovan went 5-for-11 in the doubleheader with 6 RBIs and two runs scored. Leavitt, Kuhlmann, Stine, Coe, Kenseth, Conroy and Rechlitz all notched multiple hits for the day.
UW-W will face-off against La Crosse again on Sunday in a twinbill beginning at noon.
For additional information, John Vodenlich
