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The No. 2/3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team used a potent offensive start and strong pitching Thursday afternoon to defeat St. Norbert 4-2 in the team's first game of the NCAA Division III Championship Midwest Regional at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium in Whitewater.
The Warhawks (36-7 overall), the regional's top seed, remains in the winner's bracket and will face fifth-seeded UW-La Crosse, an 11-2 winner over St. Scholastica (Minn.).
UW-Whitewater plated three in the bottom of the first on run-scoring doubles by junior first baseman
Blake Fleischman (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) and senior second baseman
Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, IL/Guilford) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore left fielder
Matt Wary (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove).
After the Green Knights (30-12) responded with runs in the third and fourth innings to draw within one, sophomore third baseman
Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) doubled the Warhawks' lead in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, RBI single.
Junior pitcher
Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) allowed one earned run and struck out five in four innings of work to tally his ninth win of the season against no losses. Senior
Westin Wuethrich (Greenwood, Wis./Greenwood) bridged the gap with four shutout innings to get to senior closer
Mike Nompleggi (Oconto Falls/Oconto Falls), who registered his seventh save of the year by pitching around a one-out walk in the top of the ninth.
Senior shortstop
Jordan Kuczynski (Germantown/Germantown) collected three hits and scored one run, while Chamberlain tallied two hits. Sophomore centerfielder
Kevin White (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) added one hit and one run scored.
UW-Whitewater out-hit St. Norbert 10-5 but left 10 runners on base. The Green Knights stranded seven runners, including two in the top of the first.
Friday's game against UW-La Crosse is the Warhawks' seventh of the season against the Eagles.
