AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team got off to a hot start at the plate Thursday and didn't look back in an 11-3 victory over Keuka (N.Y.) in a non-conference affair at Lake Myrtle Park.
 
The Warhawks (8-1 overall) concluded their eight-day, nine-game spring break trip with another solid all-around performance.
 
UW-Whitewater recorded 14 hits offensively, and seven different pitchers combined to hold the Storm (2-7) to just three runs despite 12 hits. The Warhawks' staff stranded 11 base runners and struck out 10 batters.
 
Senior righty Matt Roberts (Manitowoc/Roncalli) started the contest and didn't allow a run in two innings while striking out four to pick up his first victory of the year. Sophomore left-hander John Olejniczak (Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) tossed two innings in relief, striking out four in the effort. 
 
Sophomore designated hitter Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) and freshman infielder Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) led UW-Whitewater with three hits apiece. Senior catcher Mike Mierow (Brookfield/Central) totaled two hits and three runs batted in, while senior shortstop Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) contributed two hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. Senior first baseman Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) reached base four times and scored a pair of runs.
 
After Roberts escaped a bases-loaded jam with three strikeouts in the top of the first, the Warhawks batted around in the bottom half, plating six runs in the frame. Pierce, Mierow, Chamberlain and Kuczynski all collected RBIs during the surge.
 
The Storm tallied once in the top of the third, but Pierce quickly gave UW-Whitewater its six-run lead back, clubbing his second homer of the year on a line drive down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth.
 
In the same inning, Mierow drove in his third run of the game with a line drive to left center to make the score 8-1. The Warhawks added one more on a first-and-third steal play later in the frame.
 
After Keuka plated two in the top of the sixth, sacrifice flies by freshman centerfielder Daytona Bryden (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) and senior third baseman Adam Gregory (Edgerton/Edgerton) hit in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, accounted for the final margin.
 
UW-Whitewater returns to action Saturday at Ripon. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.