First Game
The No. 22 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team cruised to a 21-2 win over Trinity (TX) in San Antonio Friday afternoon. Despite the large score differential, the teams played all nine.
The Warhawks scored early and often posting five runs over the first two innings.
Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) got the offense going in the top of the first with a one-out single through the left side in the first. With two down,
Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) notched the first of his four hits in the game - a RBI double to right center.
Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) drew a walk and
Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) followed with another RBI double.
Darryl Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King) watched four straight balls to load the bases.
Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) was picky at the plate drawing another base-on-balls to plate the Warhawks' third run of the frame. That was all UWW would need for the win.
UW-Whitewater added a pair of runs in the top of the third to take a 5-0 advantage before Trinity got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the third. The Warhawks posted six runs on six hits in the top of the fifth to build a nine-run cushion, 11-2.
UWW's offense continued to roll plating three more in the six, a single run in the seventh, fourth in the eighth and a pair in the top of the ninth for the final. Holland tallied all four runs in the eighth with the team's first grand slam of the season on his first collegiate homer.
Frank paced the Warhawk offense with a 4-5 ady at the plate adding four runs scored and our RBI. Two of his four hits went for doubles. Jackson and
Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) each tallied three hits as UWW registered a total of 21 in the contest.
Four Warhawks saw action on the mound with
Michael Hilker Jr. (Yorkville, Ill./York) opening the game. He went 3.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits.
Ethan Wickman (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley),
Cade Hansen (New Braunfels, Texas/Smithson Valley) and
Logan Kottmeyer (North Aurora, Ill./Kaneland) combined for the final 5.1 innings of relief - each allowing a single hit - blanking Trinity along the way. Wickman was credited with the win, his first of the 2024 campaign.
Second Game
In the second game in the double-header the Warhawks fell to #19 Trinity, 7-8 in a full 9 inning game.
UW-Whitewater opened up scoring early, with second-batter
Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) hitting the lead-off
Alex Najera (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) in. Trinity answered back in the bottom of the first, with an RBI double to tie the game at 1 a piece.
After a scoreless innings, the Warhawks finally got the bats going again, adding on two runs to take the lead 3-1. But in the bottom of the third, Trinity tied it back up with a two-run homer. The Warhawks took another run in the top of the fourth to regain the lead, 4-3.
The Warhawks expanded on the lead in the top of the 7th, with
Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) hitting a two run homer to go up 6-3. However, Trinity answered back with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh, another RBI double made it 8-6 in favor of the Tigers heading into the final two innings.
The Warhawks weren't able to get anything going in the eighth, but a scoreless inning for Trinity gave UW-Whitewater an opportunity to come back. In th top of the 9th,
Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) hit an RBI single to close the gap to just one run, but the Warhawks were unable to grab the second to keep the game going, with Trinity taking the 8-7 win.
Frank led the batting box score, with three hits and 2 RBIs in five at bats.
Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) also had three hits, scoring three runs himself in four at bats.
The Warhawks will finish out the series against Trinity tomorrow at 10 am.
