UW-Whitewater 8, UW-La Crosse 6

UW-Whitewater 8, UW-La Crosse 4

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team dropped a WIAC doubleheader to UW-Whitewater Sunday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Warhawks, ranked third in NCAA Division III, won the opener, 8-6, and the nightcap, 8-4. UW-L falls to 8-14 overall and 1-7 in the WIAC while UW-Whitewater improves to 23-2 overall and 11-1 in the conference.

In the opener, UW-L took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a UW-Whitewater fielding error to score Jay Fanta. The Warhawks came back to score three runs in the top of the fifth and two in the top of the sixth to lead 5-1. Ben Kuhlmann had a two-run double in the fifth for UW-Whitewater.

UW-L took a 6-5 lead with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Ben Lodahl walked with the bases-loaded to cut the lead to 5-2 and Jon-Paul Cloutier hit a pinch-hit single to make it 5-3. Corey Geary followed with a two-run double to tie the game and Zach Harazin reached on a fielder's choice to score Geary and give UW-L a one-run lead.

UW-Whitewater came right back in the top of the eighth as Ryan Leavitt hit a three-run home run for a 8-6 lead. UW-L got the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Fanta was retired on a diving play by Nick Rechlitz at third base, who threw across the field to end the game.

Garrett Scray (0-1) suffered the loss for UW-L. He pitched 7.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, eight runs (six earned) and two walks while striking out five. Levi Adank started for the Eagles, but was forced to leave the contest in the top of the third with an injury. Adank went 2.0 innings, allowing one walk with one strikeout. Seven different players had a hit for UW-L.

Bryan Dominick (1-0) earned the win, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing two hits, two runs and two walks while striking out one. Ben Versnik picked up his third save of the season, going 1.0 inning, allowing one hit. Leavitt, Tim Conroy and Rechlitz each had two hits for the Warhawks.

In the nightcap, Harazin hit a two-run for UW-L in the bottom of the seventh to cut UW-Whitewater's lead to 3-2. Fanta had singled to start the inning and scored on Harazin's home run. Matt Trocke hit a go-ahead two-out two-run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. Matt Johnson, who doubled with one out in the eighth, scored in front of Trocke's home run. 

The Warhawks tallied five runs in the top of the ninth to earn the doubleheader sweep. Jordan Stine had a run-scoring single to tie the game at 4-4 and Rob Coe followed with another RBI single to make it 5-4. Mike Kenseth and Rechlitz hit back-to-back sacrifice flies and Daniel Putnam had an RBI single.

Brandon Walczak (1-4) took the loss, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing four hits, five runs and three walks with six strikeouts. Tim Verthein went 1.0 inning, allowing four hits and three runs (one earned). Johnson was 2-for-3 for UW-L while Trocke and Harazin each had two RBI.

Eric Schmitz (1-0) earned the win, pitching 0.2 of an inning, allowing one hit and one run with a strikeout. Stine was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

UW-L returns to action Wednesday, April 21 hosting UW-Platteville at 1 p.m. at North Campus Field.