Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAUGET, Ill. – The No. 14 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team split a pair of game games on Friday afternoon in the NCAA Central Regional at GCS Ballpark.
 
The Warhawks (32-15 overall) dropped the first game against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (In.) by a score of 8-0, but bounced back to win a marathon of a game against Washington University by a score of 9-8 in 14 innings of play.
 
The Fighting Engineers (32-11) advanced to the NCAA Central Regional Championship which will be played tomorrow afternoon.
 
Junior pitcher Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls) started on the mound for the first game and took the loss moving him to 2-3 on the season. Nompleggi tossed three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Sophomore Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) came in, in relief and pitched four strong innings allowing one run on one hit. Senior John Olejniczak (Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) tossed the final two frames of the contest.
 
After posting 16 hits in last night's contest UW-Whitewater was only able to muster up five hits on the afternoon against Rose-Hulman.
 
Junior second baseman Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) finished 1-for-4 including a double to the deepest part of the ballpark. Sophomore first baseman Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown), freshman outfielder Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove), sophomore Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West), and junior shortstop Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) all finished the afternoon off with a hit apiece.
 
The Fighting Engineers struck first scoring three runs in the second inning and didn't look back. Rose-Hulman also posted two runs in the third, once in the sixth, eighth, and ninth innings to seal the victory.
 
In the night cap against Washington University, the UW-Whitewater offense regained its form from the first two days of competition totaling 11 hits over the 14 inning game.
 
Freshman Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) had the key 11th hit for the Warhawks as it was the game winning solo home run in the top of the 14th inning to seal the victory. Aldridge finished 3-for-6 on the night at the plate with two home runs and six runs batted in.
 
Wary, and Fleischman each posted two hits apiece in the night cap. Fleischman scored and drove in a run for the Warhawks. Sophomore outfielder Daytona Bryden (Rockton, IL/Hononegah), Kuczynski, Chamberlain, and sophomore first baseman Trent Bogardt all finished with a hit apiece in the night cap.
 
Junior Ankur Shah (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) got the start for the Warhawks on the mound in game two. Shah tossed four innings giving up four runs on four hits. Nompleggi came in and tossed an inning of relief giving up two runs on one hit. Jones tossed five innings of work giving up two runs on four hits. Senior lefty Connor Hurst (Waunakee/Waunakee) and junior James Georgakas (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) combined to throw four innings of shutout baseball and seal the victory for the Warhawks.
 
Washington University jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but UW-Whitewater responded in the fifth plating four runs to regain the lead. Chamberlain hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Borgardt to tie the game at three. Aldridge came to the plate a few batters later and hit his first home run of the night to deep right field to take a commanding 6-3 lead.
 
The Bears (33-18 overall) responded in their half of the fifth to tie the game at six runs apiece. The Warhawks would then retake the lead in the seventh only for Washington University to tie the game in the eighth.
 
UW-Whitewater will be back in action tomorrow afternoon where they will take on Rose-Hulman at 1:00 p.m. in the Central Regional Championship. The Warhawks must win two games against the Fighting Engineers to advance to the College World Series.