Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Second verse same as the first --- almost.  After losing to UW-Stout 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium in Whitewater Saturday, UW-W rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth of game two for a 4-3 victory and a split of the twinbill.  The day was a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, with each UW-W player wearing a special uniform top naming a person they were honoring and all proceeds from the doubleheader going to the ACS.  Whitewater, ranked fourth in the D3baseball.com poll, is 24-5 overall.  The Warhawks, 12-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, have a three game lead in the conference race with eight games remaining on the schedule. 

photo gallery of the American Cancer Society fundraiser (courtesy of Alex Saager)
photo gallery, game photos (courtesy of Alex Saager)

Stout's Brent Mueller and Whitewater's Scott Plaza (Arlington Heights, IL/Prospect) held the offenses in check in game one.  UW-S got to Plaza before he settled down, opening the first with a Nick Nalbach double and RBI single from Ryan Freitag to open the scoring.  Whitewater quickly knotted the game with a run in the second when Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) reached on an error, stole second with one out, advanced to third on a passed ball, and came home on Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine)'s two out single.

And that's where it stayed as the pitchers found their groove.  Stout had runners on in the third and fifth, and men on first and third with one out in the eighth, but were still at one on the scoreboard through eight.  Whitewater put someone on base in the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth -- but also had just the one run to show for it. 

Blue Devil designated hitter Charlie Meyer led of the ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second.  Pinch hitter Kasey Kruse singled down the right field line to bring in Meyer, and catcher Jared Francois doubled in Kruse for Stout's third run.  Whitewater again put a runner on base in the ninth, but failed to score.

Meuller, 6-2, went the distance, allowed five hits, no earned runs with three walks and six strikeouts.  Plaza went eight and a third, allowing eight hits, three earned, two walks with six K's.  First baseman Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) and catcher Mike Mierow (Brookfield/Central) went 2x4 for UW-W, accounting for four of the team's five hits.  Leftfielder Kyle Haen (Madison/Edgewood) was on base three times from his leadoff spot, once on a walk and twice after being hit by a pitch.  Centerfielder Brady Burzynski and Nalbach had a pair of hits apiece for UW-S,

It was more of the same in game two.  Whitewater left the bases loaded in the first inning and two men stranded in the second.  Stout opened the scoring in the third on a one out double by Jack Schneider and two out single by Nalbach.

The Warhawks left a man on in the fourth and fifth, again, but finally pushed the tying run across in the sixth.  Power walked and moved to second on a single by DH Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine).  Mierow sacrificed the runners up a base, and second baseman Nick Kuhlmann (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest) made it 1-1 with a sacrifice fly to center.

Schneider and Nalbach doubled to account for a Blue Devil run in the eighth, and Meyer singled in Nalbach to put UW-S in front 3-1 going into the final frame.

Kuhlmann led off the last of the ninth with a single, and moved to second on Haen's single.  Warhawk third baseman Jared Fon (Germantown/Germantown) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.  Centerfielder Dylan Friend (Burlington/Burlington) cut the Whitewater deficit to 3-2 with a single to center.  Shortstop Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) stroked a hit up the middle that scored one run, and when the Stout outfielder bobbled the pickup Haen slid across with the winning run.

Connor Hurst (Waunakee/Waunakee) went the first eight innings for Whitewater, with Austin Jones (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa West), 2-1, picking up the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.  Friend, Pierce, Cannon and Mierow collected two hits apiece for UW-W.  Zach Carlson tossed the first eight for Stout, with Andy Peterson, 1-1, taking the loss with his work in the ninth.  Nalbach led all hitters with a 3x3 game, with leftfielder Brett Vavra and Schneider addiig two safeties each.

Stout is 18-13 overall and 8-8 in the WIAC.  The teams will match up for two more games Sunday in Whitewater. 



TF