AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The No. 6 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team posted eight first-inning runs to take early control Friday morning in a 10-2 triumph over 18th-ranked Webster (Mo.) in a non-conference affair at the RussMatt Invitational at Lake Myrtle Park.
The Warhawks' first eight batters reached based on a combination of six hits and two walks. Sophomore left fielder
Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) and junior first baseman
Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) each singled to start the game, and sophomore third baseman
Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) plated Wary with a single to left.
Senior second baseman
Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) drew a five-pitch walk, and junior centerfielder
Brett Krause (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) drew a walk on a seven-pitch at-bat to bring Fleischman around to score.
Sophomore catcher
Mike Aiello (Racine, Wis./Horlick) knocked the first of three straight extra base hits for UW-Whitewater (5-1 overall), bringing home Aldridge and Chamberlain with a base hit to left center. Junior right fielder
Will Helbing (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) tripled off the wall in right center to bring home two more, and senior shortstop
Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) provided the exclamation point with a two-run homer down the left field line.
Senior right-hander
Westin Wuethrich (Greenwood, Wis./Greenwood) improved to 2-0 on the season, scattering four hits and two walks over five innings while striking out seven. Senior lefty
Ankur Shah (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) struck out four in three scoreless innings of relief, and senior RHP
Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning and collected two strikeouts.
The Gorloks (8-5) scored two runs in the top of the second to draw within six, but the Warhawks regained their eight-run lead with two in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back RBI singles by Krause and Aiello.
Krause, Aiello, Helbing and Kuczynski tallied two hits apiece and combined for nine RBI from the Nos. 5-8 spots in the order, respectively. Fleischman reached base three times, and Aldridge and Chamberlain each scored a pair of runs.
UW-Whitewater resumes play in Central Florida Saturday against Rutgers-Camden (N.J.). First pitch is slated for 11 a.m. Central Time at Chain O' Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Fla.
