Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 UW-Whitewater, ranked 25th in the D3baseball.com poll, opened its Florida trip with a 14-2 win over Clarkson University, and followed with a comeback 11-10 victory over Western New England College in Winter Haven, Florida Thursday.

UW-W senior righthander Kyle Stewart (Onalaska/Onalaska) struck out the side in the top of the first, but the bottom of the inning didn't go nearly as fast.  Whitewater scored nine runs -- on four hits, with the help of three walks, three stolen bases, two hit batsmen and a Clarkson error.  Six Warhawks drove in a run in the inning with designated hitter Logan Peot (Suamico/Bayport) collecting a pair of RBI's. 

Whitewater added a run in the second, and shortstop Steve Bartlein (South Milwaukee/South Milwaukee) homered in three more in the third to give UW-W a 13-0 lead.  Clarkson scored twice in the sixth, combining three hits with a walk, a wild pitch and a Warhawk error.  Whitewater ended the scoring like it started, with one hit -- and a hit batter and two wild pitches, ending the scoring and the game after seven innings with the run differential rule.

Stewart went six innings to improve to 2-0, giving up two earned runs on four hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts.  Bartlein led UW-W hitters with a 2x3 game, four runs batted in and a walk. 

Clarkson, 6-3, ended its spring trip to Florida with the game.

UW-W and Western New England College, in the "others receiving votes" section of the D3baseball.com poll, met in the NCAA III World Series last spring, with Whitewater winning 8-3. 

But that was last year.  In the top of the first Whitewater's Marty Herum (River Falls/River Falls) singled in a pair of runs for a 2-0 lead.  WNEC responded with four in their half of the first, and UW-W added one more in the second to close to 4-3.  Samuel Keller's double in the third tied the game 4-4.

The Warhawks took the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth, two of them coming home on a Herum single.  Again, WNEC had a reply, plating one run in their half of the fourth to leave UW-W leading 7-5.  The fifth inning was the only frame in the contest to put goose eggs on the scoreboard.  In the bottom of the sixth Western used six hits, along with two wild pitches, to score five times for a 10-7 lead.  UW-W tallied once in the seventh to close to within 10-8.  In the eighth Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) tripled in one run and scored another for Whitewater, knotting the score 10-10. 

That set the stage for the ninth.  Warhawk leftfielder Matt Beyer (Janesville/Parker) led off the inning with a home run, and Eric Schmitz (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) gave up a walk in the ninth but shut the door. 

Schmitz went the final 2.2 innings, giving up one hit, the one walk and striking out four to pick up the win and go 2-1 on the season.  WNEC's Mike Lawlor, their fourth pitcher of the game, went 2.1 innings and took the loss.  Herum went 3x5 with four runs batted in for Whitewater, and Keller went 3x5 with two RBI's.  Western had five players with two hits each, with centerfielder Jeff Schult going 2x4 with a walk and two runs scored from his leadoff spot.

UW-W is 4-2 this season, Western New England is 5-5.

UW-W, will play Benedictine University (IL) Friday in Florida.  The Warhawks first home game of 2012 will be Thursday, April 5 with UW-Oshkosh visiting Miller Stadium at Prucha Field for a 1:00 doubleheader.

For additional information:  John Vodenlich, UW-W coach