The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team opened up the NCAA Super Regionals with a 14-1 win over UW-Oshkosh on Prucha Field. The Warhawk bats got going early, and the momentum kept carrying through as Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) and Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) both had five RBIs on the day. The Titans had no answer to a complete game win from Cade Hansen (New Braunfels, Texas/Smithson Valley) on the mound.

Head Coach John Vodenlich reached a career milestone with his 800th win (771st at UW-Whitewater). Vodenlich is the second Warhawk coach to reach the 800 win mark in as many days, with Warhawk Softball head coach Brenda Volk reaching the milestone in their own Super Regional win yesterday. Read More...

UW-Oshkosh scored their only run of the day on a wild pitch in the first inning. The Titans rallied two singles with two outs before scoring on the WP. 

UW-Whitewater answered back with their own two-out rally, this time with Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) driving in a run. 

The Wahawks expanded their lead with an RBI-single from Holland, followed by a three-run homer from Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran). Cootway's 18th homer of the season leads the Warhawks and ranks second on the Warhawk Single Season Record list. 

The Titans grabbed two singles again in the top of the third, but both were stranded after two consecutive strike-outs from Hansen. The first and third were the only two multi-hit innings for UWO against Hansen.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Warhawks expanded on their lead with a walk and three singles. Holland, Cootway, and Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) all drove in a run during the fourth, with Frank hitting a sacrifice fly to put the Warhawks up 8-1 after four complete.

The batting didn't slow down from there, with Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) hitting a lead-off double to start another 3-run inning in the 5th. Paden's double and Cootway's homer from the 2nd were the only extra-base hits of the Warhawks' 19 total hits. Holland and Cootway both drove in more runs during the frame to put the lead at double-digits, 11-1.

Holland, Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South), and Thies completed the third consecutive three-run inning for the Warhawks in the sixth.

With the 13-run lead, the Warhawks defense closed out the game with 9 straight outs. Oshkosh only recorded one hit in the final three frames, but the runner was put out on a double play.

Cade Hansen (New Braunfels, Texas/Smithson Valley) threw his third complete game of the season, but first 9.0-inning one. Hansen allowed only five hits, with one earned run, while fanning 7 Titan batters.

The Warhawks and Titans will return to Prucha Field tomorrow at 11 am for the second game of the best of three Super Regional. If a third game is necessary, the start time will be 45-minutes after game two.