The No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team finished with three wins for the weekend after splitting two games Sunday at UW-Platteville in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader.
The Warhawks (17-4 overall, 6-2 WIAC) won the first game by an 8-3 score, and dropped a heartbreaking nightcap by a 4-3 margin in 12 innings.
In the opener, UW-Whitewater posted two runs in the top of the first inning and didn't look back.
Sophomore righty
Lake Bachar (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) pitched seven innings to improve to 5-2 on the season. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out eight. Freshman
Riley Gruetzmacher (Oconto Falls, Wis./Oconto Falls) and sophomore
Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) each tossed a scoreless frame in relief.
Senior right fielder
Trent Diekvoss (Beaver Dam/Beaver Dam) and sophomore first baseman
Trent Borgardt (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee) registered two hits and one run batted in apiece to lead the offense. Freshman third baseman
Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) reached base three times and plated one run.
Sophomore left fielder
Will Helbing (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) and sophomore shortstop
Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) also knocked in one run apiece.
In the second game, Jones, who started in center field, mashed two solo homers, and freshman first baseman
Aaron Markley (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) hit a run-scoring double to supply the Warhawks with a 3-0 lead through 5 1/2 innings.
The Pioneers cut their deficit to two with a run in the eighth, and tied the game with a pair of runs in the ninth.
UW-Whitewater was held hitless after the ninth inning, and UW-Platteville walked off for the win in the bottom of the 12th.
Junior right-hander
Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls) scattered 10 hits over eight innings, allowing only one earned run. He stranded UW-Platteville runners in all but two innings during the outing, including the eighth, where he left the tying run at first.
Freshman pitcher
Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) was dealt the loss in his first appearance of the season.
UW-Whitewater hosts MSOE for a single game Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. at Miller Stadium.