The Warhawk baseball team increased their winning streak to eight with two wins over Concordia University in Whitewater on Thursday. The 'Hawks won game one 7-4 and game two 12-1. UW-W improves to 35-4 overall and Concordia falls to 21-15.
Game one box score
Game two box score
Photo gallery
Concordia went up 1-0 in the top of the first, but the 'Hawks evened the score in the bottom half on the inning on a Ben Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest) single that scored Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland).
The game remained tied until the top of the fourth when Concordia pushed one across on a ground out. The Falcons maintained their one run lead until the bottom of the fifth when UW-W tied the game again on a Kuhlmann single, this time Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ) was the player to score.
Concordia went up 3-2 in the top of the sixth, but UW-W used a four-run bottom half of the inning to take a 6-3 lead. Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) ripped a two-run double in the inning and Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ) hit an RBI ground-rule double and later scored on a passed ball. Each team added a run in the seventh to push the final score to 7-4.
Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) started the game for the 'Hawks and pitched the first five innings to a tie, giving up two runs, before giving way to Eric Schmitz (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) who eventually earned the win. Schmitz is 2-0 this season. The Warhawks used four different pitchers in the game and they combined for eight strikeouts.
Game two saw the Warhawks take the lead in the bottom of the second on a grounder by Ryan Leavitt (Merrill/Merrill) that scored Rob Coe (Appleton/North). Leavitt scored two batters later on a Nick Rechlitz (Milwaukee/Marquette) single. It looked like at least one more would score when the next batter, Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill ), ripped one off the pitcher but it caromed in the direction of the third baseman who picked it up and tagged out Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker).
Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) added to the lead on a solo homerun in the bottom of the third, and two batters later Coe followed suit with another solo shot to left field.
In the bottom of the fourth Rechlitz reached on a walk, stole second, stole third, and then scored on an elusive slide on a fielder's choice by Stine. Putnam, the next batter, homered to left center to give the 'Hawks a 7-0 advantage. The inning continued when Kuhlmann reached on an error with two gone and scored on a double off the left field wall by Coe. Kenseth followed by reaching on another error that moved Coe to third and then Leavitt singled to left to push the final run of the inning across and give UW-W a 9-0 lead after four.
The Falcons notched one in the top of the fifth to prevent the shutout but the Warhawks got that run back in the bottom of the sixth on a Leavitt single that drove in Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale) from second. UW-W scored two more in the bottom of the seventh to take a 12-1 lead and that concluded the scoring for both teams in the game.
Aaron Leitner (Chilton/Chilton ) pitched the first five innings, giving up two hits and one run, and earned the win. Leitner improves to 6-1 this season. Four Warhawk pitchers combined to keep the Falcons scoreless for the remainder of the game.
The 'Hawks will take some time off before they begin the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament beginning on May 14 in Whitewater. The 'Hawks earned the top seed and the right to host by winning the regular season WIAC title. The winner of the WIAC tournament earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
For additional information, John Vodenlich
