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The No. 5 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team looks to continue its regular season success into the postseason this week as it hosts UW-La Crosse Friday at 10 a.m. in the first game of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Presented by Culver's.
The Warhawks (34-5 overall) are the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination tournament after sharing the WIAC regular season championship with a 24-4 league record. UW-W is second in the latest NCAA Midwest Regional Rankings and fifth in the most recent D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.
UW-La Crosse (30-11), the No. 3 seed, enters Friday's game coming off a 14-13 victory in Wednesday's first round against UW-Platteville in 10 innings.
Today's postseason preview is presented by Whitewater Family Dentistry.
UW-Whitewater closed the regular season with four straight victories and has won 15 of its last 16 games entering Friday's game.
First-year Warhawks
Sam Vomhof (DeForest, Wis./DeForest),
Tucker Criswell (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) and
Jacob DeMeyer (Harshaw, Wis./Rhinelander) pace the team's offense.
Vomhof, a second baseman, leads UW-W and ranks among league leaders in batting average (.407), triples (5) and sacrifice flies (5). Criswell, a graduate transfer and third baseman, enters the postseason with a .396 batting average and a team-best .504 on-base percentage, good for third in the conference.
DeMeyer has been the Warhawks' primary starter in right field, and has drawn a team-high 25 walks on his way to a .494 on-base percentage. He is batting .385 entering Friday's game.
Shortstop
Nick Santoro (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) is batting .372 and leads the team in hits (58), stolen bases (16) and runs scored (48) while ranking among WIAC leaders in both categories. Left fielder
Matt Korman (Waterford, Wis./Waterford Union) enters the postseason hitting .359 with a league-leading 53 runs batted in. He also paces the team with 16 doubles.
Centerfielder
Zach Campbell (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) and catcher
Ryan Norton (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) have also been among regular starters. Campbell is batting .324 with 12 stolen bases, while Norton is hitting .295 with three home runs, and owns a .996 fielding percentage.
Utility players
Taylor White (Highlands Ranch, Colo./ThunderRidge),
Connor Moroder (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee) and
Ben Wilkins (Sussex, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran) have also played key roles for UW-Whitewater in 2021. White is batting .448 in 24 games as a starter with 18 extra-base hits, including a team-best six home runs, and 28 RBIs. Moroder is hitting .417 in 28 games (14 starts) with 19 RBIs, and Wilkins is batting .367 with eight doubles in 22 games (11 starts).
The Warhawks' starting pitching rotation includes
Matt O'Sullivan (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland),
Westin Muir (Highlands Ranch, Colo./St. Charles North (Ill.)),
Connor Spear (Highland, Ind./Mount Carmel (Ill.)) and
Donovan Brandl (Rudolph, Wis./Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln). All four have held opponents to a .204 batting average or less.
O'Sullivan leads the conference in wins (9-0 record), earned run average (1.22) and strikeouts (103) in a team-high 66 2/3 innings pitched. Muir is 7-1 with a 1.43 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings, ranking among the top five in the WIAC in all categories.
Spear enters the postseason with a 5-0 record and a 1.82 ERA in 49 1/3 innings, and has totaled 51 strikeouts. Brandl is 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA and 45 strikeouts in his 44 innings.
Moroder,
Kade Lancour (Nekoosa, Wis./Nekoosa) and
Ben Muscatello (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) lead UW-W in relief appearances. Moroder is 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. Lancour has pitched 22 innings with a 1-1 record, a 4.09 ERA and 22 strikeouts, while Muscatello is 1-1 with 27 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings. Both Moroder and Muscatello own one save in 2021.
UW-Whitewater seeks its third straight conference tournament title and seventh overall. The winner of this year's WIAC Championship earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
