The No. 15 ranked. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team crossed over the .500 mark Monday with a pair of victories at the RussMatt Invitational at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Fla.
The Warhawks (5-4 overall) topped Middlebury (Vt.) by a 4-3 score in their final at-bat, and defeated Franklin (Ind.) by a 6-3 score to close the day.
In the game against Franklin (9-5), a fellow 2018 NCAA Central Regional qualifier, senior pitcher
Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) tossed eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out a career-high 12 batters. He improved to 1-2 on the season with the win.
The Grizzlies threatened with three runs in the ninth, but freshman
Hayden Fox (Stockton, Ill./Stockton) posted a strikeout with the tying run at the plate to end the contest.
Ten different Warhawks recorded one hit. Junior
Noah Jensen (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) scored two runs and knocked in one run.
Junior centerfielder
Alex Doud (Waukesha, Wis./Mukwonago) knocked a two-out, run-scoring single to left in the top of the first to give UW-Whitewater the early advantage.
The Warhawks struck twice in the seventh to increase their lead to three on pinch-hit, RBI singles by sophomore
Connor Moroder (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee) and junior
Lucas Price (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley).
UW-Whitewater added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth on a bunt single by Jensen, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman
Nick Schrader (Cambridge, Wis./Jefferson).
Against Middlebury (6-4), Schrader hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to plate the winning run in the bottom of the ninth and give UW-Whitewater a walk-off victory.
Schrader tallied a team-high three hits and scored one run to go along with his game-winning RBI. Senior third baseman
Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) collected two hits, one run scored and one RBI, and senior catcher
Mike Aiello (Racine, Wis./Horlick) and Doud each plated a run.
Sophomore pitcher
Matt O'Sullivan (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) allowed only two earned runs and scattered eight hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings. Sophomore
Connor Spear (Highland, Ind./Mount Carmel (Ill.)) didn't allow a run in the final two innings and earned the win to improve to 1-0 on the year.
The Warhawks opened scoring in the bottom of the third inning on a run-scoring single by Doud and a sacrifice fly by Aiello. The Panthers took a one-run lead with one in the fourth and two in the fifth, but UW-Whitewater quickly tied the game at 3-3 thanks to an RBI single by Aldridge in the fifth.
O'Sullivan ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, but escaped a two-on, no-out jam with a strikeout and two popups to end the frame.
Neither team was able to mount a serious rally until the bottom of the ninth, when UW-Whitewater loaded the bases with nobody out to set up Schrader's game-winner.
The Warhawks close their spring break trip Tuesday with a game against Elmhurst (Ill.). First pitch is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Central Time in Auburndale.
