Aaron Leitner (Chilton/Chilton ) pitched a two-hit shutout in a 14-0 victory over UW-Platteville in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Friday in Whitewater.  The shutout is the Warhawks second of the season, the first coming back on April 11 when Jason Hooper (Lake Mills/Lake Mills) threw a no-hitter against UW-Stout.  The win propels UW-W to the first championship game on Saturday against UW-Stevens Point.  Since the tournament uses a double-elimination format, the Warhawks will have to beat the Pointers twice on Saturday to claim the tournament crown.  UW-W is now 36-5 while Platteville ends their season at 22-20.

Box score
WIAC Tournament Website

Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland) singled up the middle in the top of the third to drive in Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ) for UW-W's first run of the game.

A solo shot by Rob Coe (Appleton/North) in the top of the fourth, his fourth of the year, gave the 'Hawks a 2-0 lead.  Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale) reached on a single later in the inning and later stole second, then scored on an errant throw by the pitcher to catch him stealing.

Putnam singled in Stine again in the top of the fifth and Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) added a three-run homer to pad the Warhawks' lead.

UW-W lit up the scoreboard with seven more runs in the top of the seventh.  Highlighting the inning was a bases loaded double by Travis Wessels (Tomah/Tomah) that cleared the bases.  The Warhawks batted around, plus four, in the inning with the first nine batters reaching base by either a hit, a fielder's choice or being hit by a pitch.

Platteville was unable to score or come within ten, thus the game ended after seven due to the ten-run rule.

Leitner went the distance to earn the victory and is 7-1 this season.  He gave up just two hits, struckout one, and walked one.

UW-W will play UW-Stevens Point in the championship game at 12:00 pm at Prucha Field in Whitewater on Saturday.  If UW-W defeats Stevens Point, the two teams will face-off again at 3:00 pm with the winner receiving the automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament.

For additional information, John Vodenlich