The No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team posted two complete performances Saturday afternoon in two wins over UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The Warhawks (14-2 overall, 2-0 WIAC) claimed the opener by a 4-1 score before downing the Eagles 9-4 in the second game.
In Game 1, junior right-hander
Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) moved to 5-0 on the season, allowing only one unearned run on five hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work. Sophomore
Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) and senior
Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls) each tossed a scoreless inning of relief, combining with Jones to strand nine UW-La Crosse runners in the contest. Nompleggi was credited with his third save of the season.
Sophomore catcher
Mike Aiello (Racine, Wis./Horlick) knocked a two-out base hit to center to put UW-Whitewater on the board in the bottom of the second, and a ground ball by junior centerfielder
Brett Krause (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) doubled the Warhawk lead to 2-0 in the third.
Junior first baseman
Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) knocked a two-out, two-run homer to the opposite field to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
UW-La Crosse (10-7, 0-2) plated one in the top of the sixth, but Jones stranded two more runners in the frame and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
The Eagles put two on with nobody out in the eighth, but UW-Whitewater turned a 6-4-3 double play and Kaska induced a flyout to center to end the threat. UW-La Crosse then brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Nompleggi rolled back-to-back ground balls to end the game.
In the nightcap, junior pitcher
Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) shut down the Eagles, allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out five in seven innings to improve to 3-0 on the year. Senior
James Georgakas (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) pitched a scoreless eighth in relief.
Senior second baseman
Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) and senior shortstop
Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) each tallied three hits and combined for six runs batted to lead the offense. Kuczynski knocked two home runs, including a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth and a two-run fly in the seventh.
Fleischman hit his second homer of the doubleheader, a solo blast in the bottom of the third. Aiello contributed two hits and one RBI, and Krause knocked in one run and scored one run.
The Warhawks and Eagles conclude the four-game series Sunday with a doubleheader starting at noon at Miller Stadium.
