The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team completed the season sweep over UW-Platteville with two wins over the Pioneers on Sunday afternoon. The Warhawks extend their win streak to 24 games.
The Warhawks pitched themselves into a 4-1 win in game one, using just two arms in the all-around game. In game two, the Warhawk runs came early, but the pitching & defense held off the Pioneers to secure the single-run win at 4-3.
Game one started as a pitching battle, with both sides not gathering a hit until the 3rd inning.
Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) broke through with a single to lead off the top of the third for the Warhawks.
Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) brought McVay home with a double to put the first tally on the board for UWW.
The Warhawks added two more in the next inning, with
Landen Seymour (Rockton, Ill./Honongah) driving in a run on an RBI single. McVay laid down a sacrifice bunt to add the third run on the board for the Warhawks.
UW-Platteville added its only run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. The run didn't count as earned for
Jackson Koenig (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) on the mound. Koenig went 5.2 in his fourth win of the season, striking out four while only giving up four hits.
Franklin Kirchner (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Conant) came in relief on the mound, pitching the last 3.1 innings for the Warhawks in game one. The freshman righty only issued one walk in his outing, not allowing a single hit from the Pioneers. Kirchner struck out three & protected the 3-1 Warhawk lead for the save.
In game two, the Warhawks found early runs with base running.
Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) drew a walk, with
Evan Olson (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) hitting a double to put runners on with just one out. Back-to-back wild pitches brought in both of those to score to put the Warhawks up 2-0.
Jackson Spring (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) added more pressure to the defense, stealing home in the same inning. Spring's run made it 3-0 for the Warhawks.
Gradin Taschner (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) made a strong start for the Warhawks, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the first, including two strike-outs. UW-Platteville was able to get some movement, scoring their first run in the second inning with an RBI single.
The Warhawks added another run in the 3rd to put their lead back up to three runs.
Jackson Spring (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) brought in Olsen to add the early insurance run.
Taschner went for 5.0 innings, only allowing the one run with just five hits. Taschner fanned six Pioneers in his third victory of the year.
UW-Platteville made it a close one, though, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 6th to cut the Warhawks' lead to just one. Both runs came from a Pioneer single.
The Warhawks threatened to score, but were not able to add another insurance run in the final three innings. That was not a problem from
Theo Zeidler (Suamico, Wis./Bay Port), who pitched a shut-out final three innings. In his 9 outs, Zeidler didn't allow a single hit or walk, with the only Platteville runner coming from an error. Zeidler earned the save, protecting the single-run lead for the Warhawks.
UW-Whitewater will head up to Oshkosh to finish out the conference series against the Titans. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 PM on Wednesday, April 22nd.
