The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team staved off the UW-Platteville  in the opening games of Saturday's doubleheader. The Warhawks (33-3, 23-3 WIAC) picked up both games by just a single run against the Pioneers (17-19, 12-14 WIAC).

In Game One, the Warhawks had their work cut out for them, as the Pioneers had a two-RBI double to open up scoring in the first inning. Blanking the Warhawks in the bottom of the frame, another run for UW-Platteville in the second gave them an early 3-0 lead. 

It didn't take long for UWW to make up the runs, scoring on an RBI fielder's choice in the second, followed by a three-run inning in the third to take a 4-3 lead. Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) hit an RBI single, followed by Danny Hopper (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) rounding on a wild pitch for the Warhawks to take the lead.

Pitching and defense took over, with only eight more hits combined in the final six innings. Jack Hagen (San Clemente, Cal./San Clemente) earned the win on the bump, with seven Ks in only 5.0 innings of work. The Warhawks held onto their 4-3 edge, as Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) earned the save, protecting the one run lead in the last three innings. 

The second game started with two Pioneer hits, but Max Huseboe (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) left them stranded after fanning the last two batters of the inning. The Warhawks drew the first strike, with Jackson Spring's (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) RBI double in the third. 

The Pioneers answered back with a three-run homer, courtesy of a walk and single, but Huseboe struck out the side to get out of the inning. The Warhawk offense did their job, tying it back up at 3-a-piece in the bottom of the third. Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) scored from first base with a Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) double, with Scolan scoring himself with an Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) single. 

The Warhawks took the lead in the next inning after a three-up-three-down defensive stop. Darryl Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King) scored Paden on an RBI single. From there, neither team was able to get anyone around, stalling the game at 4-3.

UW-Platteville broke through to tie it up with a solo home run in the top of the 8th, then avoided the walk-off opportunity in regulation with three straight flyouts in the bottom of nine to send the game into extras. 

Brady Malkow (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead) toed the bump for the Warhawks in 10, and despite the lead-off single, escaped the inning with a swinging K. The Warhawks offense got to work after an Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) double pushed Cootway to third with only one out. 

The Pioneers intentionally walked the bases loaded, looking to force a double play. But Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) played it patient, drawing the five-pitch walk-off walk to give the Warhawks the 5-4 win in Game Two. 

With the two wins, the Warhawks clinch at least a share of the WIAC regular season title and will host the conference tournament May 8th-10th. 

The Warhawks will finish out the conference series against UW-Platteville tomorrow, with first pitch set for 12 PM. Then face Ripon College on Tuesday at home for the regular seasonn finale.