UW-L Falls Twice to Sixth-Ranked UW-Whitewater

For Immediate Release: Sunday, April 27, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader with UW-Whitewater Sunday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Warhawks, ranked sixth in NCAA Division III, won the opener, 11-2, and the nightcap, 15-4 in seven innings. UW-L drops to 15-17 overall and 8-12 in the WIAC while UW-Whitewater improves to 28-5 overall and 17-3 in the conference. The Warhawks have won 17 of their last 18 games overall.

In the opener, the Warhawks got run-scoring singles from Joe Munn in the second inning and from Ben Kuhlmann in the third to take a 2-0 lead. UW-L cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth as Mike Schmidt scored on a wild pitch.

UW-Whitewater then tallied four runs after two outs in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Kevin Zalnis and Ben Prather had RBI singles while Munn and Billy Johnson were both hit-by-pitch with the bases-loaded. Sam Petrasko had an RBI double in the seventh for UW-Whitewater before UW-L’s Darren O’Donnell hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 7-2. The Warhawks finished the scoring with four runs in the ninth.

Adam Dominick (8-1) earned the win for UW-Whitewater, going 9.0 innings, allowing six hits, two runs (one earned) and three walks while striking out 12. Kuhlmann, Prather, Petrasko and Johnson each had two hits.

Ross Benitz (4-5) suffered the loss for UW-L, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits, six runs and three walks with three strikeouts. Storm Gram was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Eagles.

In the nightcap, UW-Whitewater took a 1-0 lead in the second on Johnson’s RBI double. The Warhawks then batted around in the third, tallying eight runs on seven hits. Seven different players knocked in a run, including a two-run home run from Kuhlmann.

UW-L scored four times in the bottom of the fifth, getting RBI singles from Josh Weber, Schmidt, Tony Peterson and Joey Casper.

UW-Whitewater added five runs in the seventh, highlighted by two-run doubles from Johnson and Greg Harder.

Mike Jacobson (6-1) picked up the victory, going 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and four walks while striking out four. Every starter had at least one hit for the Warhawks, including three from Johnson and Thomas Corcoran. Johnson and Harder each had four RBI in the contest.

Britton Wolf (1-4) took the loss for UW-L, allowing 12 hits, 10 runs and three walks in 5.0 innings. He struck out one. Peterson was 2-for-4 at the plate.

W-L returns to action Tuesday, April 29 facing city-rival Viterbo University in the Wells Fargo Copeland Cup. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Copeland Park.