UW-Whitewater baseball players, from left, first baseman Eli Frank, second baseball Andy Theis and shortstop Darryl Jackson celebrate a victory over UW-Platteville this past weekend. The Warhawks clinched their 23rd Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title and will play host to the WIAC Tournament that begins Thursday.
UW-Whitewater players mob outfielder Sam Paden (hidden) after his bases-loaded walk forced in the winning run in a 5-4 victory and a doubleheader sweep of UW-Platteville on Friday afternoon. The victory clinched at least a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship, and the Warhawks clinched the outright title with another victory Saturday.
UW-Whitewater baseball players, from left, first baseman Eli Frank, second baseball Andy Theis and shortstop Darryl Jackson celebrate a victory over UW-Platteville this past weekend. The Warhawks clinched their 23rd Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title and will play host to the WIAC Tournament that begins Thursday.
COURTESY OF SUE BOLLIS
WHITEWATER 鈥 With UW-Whitewater鈥檚 23rd outright Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball championship in its possession, the Warhawks now aim to accumulate tournament awards.
The Warhawks won three of their final four WIAC regular-season games Friday and Saturday against UW-Platteville at Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium to clinch their latest WIAC title with a 24-4 record, edging runnerup UW-La Crosse (23-5).
The Warhawks host UW-Platteville, UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse in the double-elimination WIAC Tournament that begins Thursday. Whitewater (34-4) concludes the regular-season schedule with a 2 p.m. nonconference game today against visiting Ripon College.
UW-Whitewater players mob outfielder Sam Paden (hidden) after his bases-loaded walk forced in the winning run in a 5-4 victory and a doubleheader sweep of UW-Platteville on Friday afternoon. The victory clinched at least a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship, and the Warhawks clinched the outright title with another victory Saturday.
COURTESY OF SUE BOLLIS
Warhawks head coach John Vodenlich was pleased to clinch the title at home in front of a Warhawks baseball reunion crowd that honored the 1965 and 2005 Warhawks squads. The 1965 team was the first UW-Whitewater baseball team to qualify for the national World Series. The 2005 team was the first NCAA Division III national championship squad.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥 Vodenlich said of the reunion turnout. 鈥淲e had eight players from the 1965 team, which was awesome.
鈥淚t was great to catch up with them,鈥 Vodenlich said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting to talk to them about the differences between then and now. It鈥檚 not always better, but it is definitely different.鈥
What hasn鈥檛 changed is the success the program has experienced.
The Warhawks swept the Pioneers in Friday afternoon鈥檚 opening doubleheader 4-3 and 5-4 in 10 innings to clinch at least a share of the conference title. The Warhawks owned the tiebreaker against second-place UW-La Crosse so if the two had tied, the Warhawks would have been league champions.
Whitewater ensured that tiebreakers did not come into play when the beat the Pioneers 19-4 in Saturday鈥檚 opening game. That clinched the regular-season title and allowed the Warhawks to do a 鈥渂ullpen game鈥 in the nightcap. The Pioneers won the final game of the series 4-1, which gave the Pioneers the fourth and final spot in the WIAC Tournament.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good team,鈥 Vodenlich said of the Pioneers. 鈥淭hey had a lot of motivation. They had to win one of the four to get into the tournament
鈥淲e look forward to playing them again.鈥
The Warhawks will get that chance in the opening game of the double-elimination tournament at noon Thursday. No. 3-seeded UW-Oshkosh plays No. 2-seeded UW-La Crosse at 3 p.m.
Scolan remains hot
Outfielder Matt Scolan continued to add to his list of UW-Whitewater and WIAC records over the weekend.
The senior out of Downers Grove, Illinois added to his school career home run record with his 49th and 14th of the season. In addition, he drew his 113th career walk, lifting him to No. 1 in that career statistic as well.
Scolan leads the WIAC in batting average (.435), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.352), runs (61) and hits (67).
Scolan and teammate Adam Cootway are tied for second with 14 homers each, and Warhawks catcher Aaron Holland ranks fifth with 13.
Senior pitcher Max Huseboe continues to lead the WIAC in ERA at 2.15 in eight starts. Huesboe has a league-leading 64 strikeouts and only has issued six walks.
Fellow starter Cade Hansen tops the WIAC with eight victories against only one loss. Hansen has struck out 59 and walked only 9.
Vodenlich said Tuesday鈥檚 2 p.m. nonconference game against Ripon College, along with a varsity reserve game will give every player on the team a chance to play before the conference tournament.
The conference tournament signals the start of stretch run of the season. The Warhawks were overtaken for the top spot in the latest poll by John Hopkins (Maryland) University (35-3).
鈥淭he conference tournament prepares us for what is ahead,鈥 Vodenlich said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l prepare just like we will the following week for the NCAA.鈥
Let the fun begin.
WIAC BASEBALL
(Final conference standings)
Conf. Overall
W L W L
UW-Whitewater 24 4 34 4
UW-La Crosse 23 5 33 7
UW-Oshkosh 20 8 29 11; S
UW-Platteville 13 15 18 19
UW-Stout 12 16 14 26 5
UW-Stevens Point 10 18 15 25
UW-River Falls 6 22 13 27
UW-Eau Claire 4 24 11 29
GAME TUESDAY
Ripon College at Whitewater, 2 p.m. (nc)
(End of regular season)
WIAC TOURNAMENT
(Double-elimination)
At Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium, UW-Whitewater campus
GAMES THURSDAY
Game 1鈥擴W-Platteville (#4) at UW-Whitewater (#1), noon
Game 2鈥擴W-Oshkosh (#3) vs. UW-La Crosse (#2), 3 p.m.
GAMES FRIDAY
Game 3鈥擫oser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 4鈥擶inner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2鈥, 1 p.m.
Game 5鈥擶inner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 4 p.m.
GAMES SATURDAY
Game 6鈥擶inner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 11 a.m.
Game 7 (if necessary)鈥擶inner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 2 p.m.
