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The No. 9 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team surged to a 10-run lead and hung on late Friday for a 10-6 triumph against the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the first game of the NCAA Whitewater Regional at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The Warhawks (34-8 overall) advance to face the winner of the Augustana/Aurora game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
UW-Whitewater tallied six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to break open a close game. After the Warhawks added two more in the sixth, the Raiders (27-17) responded with six in the top of the seventh, tallying three before a rain delay and three more after play resumed to cut into their deficit.
Cam Anfang (Sullivan, Wis./Jefferson) and
Cade Berendt (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) combined to keep MSOE off the board in the eighth and ninth innings, allowing UW-W to preserve the victory.
Westin Muir (Highlands Ranch, Colo./St. Charles North (Ill.)) struck out nine batters over six-plus innings to improve to 10-2 on the season. Making his first appearance of the year,
Donovan Brandl (Rudolph, Wis./Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln) recorded the first two outs of the seventh before Anfang took over following a brief second rain delay.
Left fielder
Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) led the Warhawks at the plate with two hits, including a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the first, two runs scored and three runs batted in. First baseman
Nick Paget (New Berlin, Wis./West) collected two hits, two runs scored and one RBI, while second baseman
David Rubin (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) finished 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
Third baseman
Matt Korman (Waterford, Wis./Waterford Union) posted two hits, one walk and one run scored and catcher
Ryan Norton (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) chipped in with one hit, one run scored and one RBI. Shortstop
Bennett Frazer (Hobart, Wis./Oconto) also plated a run for UW-W.
UW-Whitewater struck twice in the first on Scolan's solo homer and an error by the Raiders.
In the fourth, Norton plated a run on a single to right, and Korman scored from third on a passed ball. Rubin's double to left center made it 5-0 before a two-run double by Scolan and a wild pitch to increase the lead to 8-0.
Paget delivered an RBI single in the sixth and came around to score on Frazer's bases-loaded walk to increase the margin to 10.
MSOE drew four walks during its six-run seventh inning. Anfang finished the inning on a strikeout.
Berendt pitched around a hit and an error in the ninth, leaving the tying run in the on-deck circle with a fielder's choice and a strikeout.
UW-Whitewater last played Aurora in 2012, posting a 6-5 win in 10 innings at the NCAA Tournament. The team last played Augustana in 2016, tallying a 15-3 victory in the NCAA Tournament.
