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La Crosse, Wis. – The No. 15 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team jumped out to a quick lead Sunday, but was unable to sustain the advantage in 14-5 setback against UW-La Crosse in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game at Copeland Park.
The Warhawks (29-14) now seek an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins Wednesday, May 18. The field will be announced Sunday via a press release to be posted to NCAA.com at 11 p.m. Central Time.
UW-Whitewater left six runners on base in the contest, and the Eagles (34-8) tallied runs in the first, second, fifth and eighth innings to seal the victory.
Sophomore outfielder
Daytona Bryden (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) finished with four hits to lead the UW-Whitewater offense. Sophomore first baseman
Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) and freshman third baseman
Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) each finished the contest with two hits apiece.
In the first, the Warhawks plated a run thanks to a
Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) groundout that scored Bryden. UW-La Crosse responded with six runs in their half of the first, three coming via a home run.
In the fourth inning freshman
Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) got the scoring started thanks to a home run to left field, followed by a double by Bryden that scored Aldridge. Fleischman cut the Eagles lead in half with a solo home run to right field in the top of the fifth inning.
UW-La Crosse responded scoring three runs of their own in the bottom half of the fifth on an RBI triple and a Whitewater error. UW-Whitewater scored again in the sixth inning via a home run off the bat of Aldridge.
Sophomore
Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) got his first start of the season for the Warhawks but was short lived. He only faced six batters in the bottom of the first inning. The loss moves him to (0-1) on the season.
The Warhawks have qualified for the last eight NCAA Tournaments, making trips to the NCAA Division III World Series in 2008, 2011, and 2014 over that span.