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LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team posted its second consecutive strong performance in an elimination game Friday, defeating Washington-St. Louis 3-0 in an NCAA Midwest Regional contest at Copeland Park.
 
Freshman pitcher Lake Bachar (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) tossed the Warhawks' second straight complete game shutout and the first of his career.
 
One day after senior Colin Grove (Beloit/Memorial) went the distance without allowing a run, Bachar (7-1) scattered six hits and struck out four, keeping the Bears (34-16) off balance for most of the nine-inning effort.
 
Senior left fielder Trey Cannon (Palatine, IL/Palatine) and senior shortstop Mikole Pierce (DePere/DePere) tallied two hits apiece to lead UW-Whitewater, which recorded eight hits.
 
The Warhawks (35-10 overall) will face Concordia Chicago, which is also 2-1 in tournament play, Saturday at 10 a.m.
 
UW-Whitewater scored its first three runs with two outs.
 
In the third, Pierce knocked a base hit back up the box to score Cannon from third.
 
Cannon cashed in with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, knocking a double down the right field line to plate freshman right fielder Will Helbing (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee), who scored all the way from first.
 
One inning later, senior designated hitter Adam Gregory (Edgerton/Edgerton) chopped an infield single to second, and sophomore third baseman Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) hustled around from second to give the Warhawks a three-run lead.
 
Bachar retired 15 consecutive hitters after allowing the first two runners to reach in the top of the third. He ran into trouble in the top of the eighth, surrendering consecutive singles to start the frame, before getting the next three batters to end the inning.
 
Bachar stranded a two-out walk in the ninth, capping his second complete game of the season with a fly ball out to right.