WHITEWATER – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team topped UW-Platteville 5-2 in game two of a doubleheader Monday at Prucha Field at Miller Stadium after dropping game one 3-2. The Warhawks improve to 26-5 overall and remain in first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a record of 14-4.
 
In Game 1, the two teams combined to leave 20 runners on base. UW-Platteville held UW-Whitewater scoreless for the final seven innings and took the lead for good in the top of the seventh.
 
Freshman righty Lake Bachar (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) took the loss on the mound to drop to 4-1, scattering 11 hits over six innings while striking out three. Sophomore left-hander Donnie Manke (Lodi/Lodi) pitched the final three innings in relief, allowing just one hit.
 
Freshman centerfielder Daytona Bryden (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) led the Warhawks with two hits, while sophomore third baseman Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) extended his hitting streak to 12. Senior shortstop Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) reached base three times and scored a run.
 
The Warhawks tallied once in each of the first two innings. Senior left fielder Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine) knocked a two-out, run scoring single to left in the first, and Chamberlain doubled the UW-Whitewater lead with two outs in the second on a base hit up the middle.
 
The Pioneers tallied two runs in the fifth to tie the contest. Bachar left a runner stranded in scoring position in the top of the sixth as Pierce made a fantastic, over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left center to end the frame.
 
The Warhawks made final outs at home plate in the sixth and seventh innings, and left two runners in scoring position in the eighth.
 
Casey Power (Ontario, Canada/Belle River) gave the Warhawks a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning of game two with a 2-out double down the left field line that scored Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) and Adam Gregory (Edgerton/Edgerton). UW-Platteville responded with a run in the top of the fourth and fifth to tie the score.
 
Gregory came through in the bottom of the sixth singling to right with runners on the corners to give the home team a 3-2 lead. Bryden followed with a grounder that plated Kyle Haen (Madison/Edgewood) for a 4-2 Warhawk advantage.
 
UW-Whitewater took a 5-2 lead in the seventh with the help of a pair of Pioneer errors, and relief pitching did the rest. Austin Finn (Oconomowoc/Kettle Moraine) came on in relief of Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls) in the sixth and surrendered two hits in two innings to earn his first win of the season. John Olejniczak (Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) pitched a perfect eighth and Andrew Lowe (Whiting, IN/Whiting) earned his second save of the season with a hitless ninth.
 
The Warhawks continue WIAC competition Wednesday with a doubleheader at 11th-ranked UW-Stevens Point. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.