Saturday 10:00 ... What a difference a day makes.  Twenty-four hours after defeating UW-Oshkosh 21-2, UW-Whitewater was eliminated from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament with a 2-1 loss to the Titans.

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photo gallery (courtesy of Mitch Capelle, UW-Stevens Point sports information)

It may be more appropriate to point to the baseball bromide that good pitching beats good hitting.  Oshkosh junior righthander Luke Westphal upped his record to 7-0 by limiting the Warhawks to two hits.  He walked two and struck out ten in the complete game victory.  Two weeks ago, to the day, the Titans beat UW-W 4-1 with Westphal tossing a six-hitter, with no walks and five strikeouts.

Each team had just one hit through three innings Saturday, as UW-W senior lefty Riley Tincher (Oregon/Oregon) matched Westphal.  The difference was in the one hit, with Whitewater freshman centerfielder Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) hitting a one out home run, his fourth of the season, in the third to give the Warhawks the lead.

UW-W opened the fourth with a hit but the runner was picked off, as Tincher and Westphal faced just three batters each in the fourth and fifth.

Friend opened the top of the sixth with a walk, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Travis Wessels (Tomah/Tomah).  Friend moved to third on a ground out and Westphal walked the next batter, who became the second Warhawk to get picked off as the score remained 1-0 Whitewater.

With two out in the bottom of the sixth Alex Mullendore walked for UW-O.  The next batter, Nolan Fadness, tripled to right center to tie the game, 1-1.

Whitewater went 1-2-3 in the seventh and eighth, while Oshkosh put a runner on second in the seventh and one on third in the eighth -- but Tincher induced ground ball outs to keep the game knotted.

Whitewater went 1-2-3 again in the top of the ninth. 

Tincher retired the Titans' leadoff batter in the bottom of the ninth and the next batter, Tyler Kamps, singled through the right side.  Pinch-hitter Bobby Kachel bunted Kamps to second.  Tincher got another ground ball, one that UW-W shortstop Andrew Eichstaedt (Appleton/North) kept from getting to the outfield, saving a run, but putting runners on first and third.  Titan Derek Hiroskey, with two outs, bunted down the third base line for the game winning hit.

Tincher, 9-3, walked one and struck out two with his team-high fifth complete game of the season. 

Kamps and centerfielder Derek Layton had two hits each for the UW-O offense. 

In the second game Saturday afternoon UW-Stevens Point beat Oshkosh 10-0 in seven innings for the WIAC Tournament title and the league's automatic berth in the NCAA III championship tournament, which begins play Wednesday.  UW-Whitewater, 32-11, will await word about a possible at-large berth.  UW-W will be the site of one of eight regionals, regardless of whether the Warhawks receive an at-large bid.  The tournament field will be announced Monday.

Friday 3:00 ... After blasting UW-Oshkosh 21-2 in game one of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament Friday, the Warhawks fell to host UW-Stevens Point 6-5 in the second game of the day.  The tournament uses a double-elimination format so UW-Whitewater (32-10) remains alive and will play UW-Oshkosh again Saturday in a game beginning at 10:00 at University Field in Stevens Point.

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Strange things happen on Friday the 13th and that's exactly what happened in the first inning Friday as UW-W plated a run with the bases loaded on a catcher's interference call.  The 1-0 lead didn't last long as the Pointers knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to tie the score in the bottom half of the first.

The Pointers, the regular season WIAC champion, took the lead in the bottom of the second scoring two runs; one on a double and the other on a single, but UW-W battled back to tie the score in the top of the third on a two RBI single by Brent Young (Brisbane, Austrailia/Mt. Maria).

Stevens Point regained the lead in the bottom of the third using five hits to plate three and go up 6-3.

Young led off the sixth with a solo homer to left field, his third of the season and his second of the day, to bring the Warhawks to within two, 6-4.

Whitewater mounted a comeback in the top of the ninth when Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) started the inning with a double down the right field line.  Two batters, and outs, later Daniel Putnam (Ashland /Ashland) belted his eleventh double of the season to left center to plate Beyer and put the tying run in scoring position.  The Pointers removed starter Scott Williams in favor of Joel Delorit, normally a starter.  Delorit walked Andrew Eichstaedt (Appleton/North) to put the winning run on base but a ground out to ended the threat and the game.

UW-W pitcher Justin Lambert (Mt. Horeb/Mt. Horeb) went the distance scattering 13 hits and six runs while striking out four and walking one.  Williams earned the victory for Point and Delorit the save, his first of the season.

Putnam, Young, and Beyer were the only Warhawks to collect multiple hits (two apiece) and Young did the most damage notching three RBI and scoring one run.

The Warhawks and Titans will face off for the sixth time this season on Saturday with the loser eliminated from the WIAC tournament.  The winner of the game will advance to play UW-Stevens Point at 1:00.  Either team will have to defeat the Pointers twice to claim the tournament title.  The winner of the tournament receives the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III championship beginning May 18.

For additional information, John Vodenlich, UW-W head coach

Friday 12:00 ... UW-Whitewater set a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament record for runs scored in a 21-2 win in the opening game of the tournament Friday afternoon.  UW-W, 32-9, will face host UW-Stevens Point, 30-8, in the second game of the day beginning at 3:00 pm at University Field. 

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The twenty-one runs is the most UW-W has scored this season, topping the previous high of 19 the Warhawks scored May 1 in a win at UW-Oshkosh.  It is the most runs Whitewater has scored since totaling 22 in a win over Oshkosh April 28, 2010 in Whitewater. 

Who can explain it?  Every pitch looks like a beach ball to one team's hitters.  It just happens.  On the other side of the coin, less than a week ago, May 7, UW-W pulled out a 1-0 win over UW-La Crosse in thirteen innings.

Senior catcher Rob Coe (Appleton/North) started UW-W off with a two out double in the first.  Senior first baseman Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) singled him in to put the Warhawks on the scoreboard.

For all practical purposes the game ended in the bottom of the second, with Whitewater scoring five runs on just three hits.  The big blow was a grand slam home run by shortstop Andrew Eichstaedt (Appleton/North), his third home run of the season. 

UW-W added to its lead with six more runs in the third.  The runs scored on just three hits, with UW-O contributing a pair of errors to the run total.  Friend accounted for two runs with a double and later scored on a wild pitch.  The other big hit in the inning was a two run homer by Coe, his third round-tripper of the season.

The hits just kept on coming in the fourth, with Friend plating a pair of runs with a double to give UW-W a 14-0 lead.

The Titans broke through in the fifth with a run.

Donovan's team high seventh home run of the season, a two run shot in the fifth, made it 16-1 Whitewater.  Donovan has 38 career home runs, third in the UW-W record book and tenth in WIAC history.  His three RBI game ups his UW-W record career total to 196, also placing him third in WIAC annals.

More in the sixth, with five runs increasing the total to three touchdowns, 21-1.  Designated hitter Brent Young (Brisbane, Austrailia/Mt. Maria) hit a one out, three run home run, his second of the year.

UW-O managed its second run in the seventh, but the game ended early via the league's run differential rule.

Eichstaedt and Friend knocked in four runs each, equaling the Warhawk high for the season.  As a team, UW-W's twenty runs batted in established a season high.  Coe, Young and Friend collected three hits each, and four Warhawks scored three times apiece.  The four home runs by the Warhawks tied the season high, also accomplished against UW-Oshkosh in a 19-2 win in Oshkosh May 1.  Junior righthander Jack Larsen (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls) went the complete game, yielding four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. 

Matt Wells took the loss for Oshkosh, lasting just two innings.  Wells was the winning pitcher in the Titans' 5-4 victory over UW-W April 30 in Oshkosh.

The winner of the WIAC Tournament receives the league's automatic berth in the NCAA III championship tournament, which begins regional play Wednesday.  UW-Whitewater, although not guaranteed a berth, will host one of eight regionals in the national tourney.