Today is Friday, May 30, 2025
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Winona, Minn. – The Warhawks’ phenomenal 2025 campaign came to a close in the NCAA Division III Super Regional hosted by Saint Mary’s University Friday. UW-Whitewater fell in the opener 4-0 and the if necessary game 7-1 to wrap up the season with a 39-8 record.
UW-Whitewater opened the season on a 15-0 run. In Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, UWW went 12-2 to secure the program’s 16 regular season conference title. Receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, UW-Whitewater made its 25th appearance in the postseason, third trip to the Super Regionals and the Warhawks’ tallied win #800 for Head Coach Brenda Volk along the way.
Friday saw the host school take an early lead as the Cardinals utilized small ball to push a single run across. SMU would add two more in the sixth and another in the seventh. Meanwhile, the Warhawks bats just couldn’t gather momentum. UWW was making good contact, registering six hits in the contest, but Saint Mary’s always seemed to stifle the momentum quickly.
Six different Warhawks recorded hits in the game while Brooke Hock suffered the loss in the circle to move to 7-2 on the season.
Game two was a little deja vu as the Warhawks won the coin flip for home team and SMU took an early lead on a solo homerun in the top of the first. They added two in the top of the second and a few more in the top of the seventh.
The Cardinal defense held the Warhawks at bay with some fantastic defensive plays, robbing multiple shots that looked to be at least base knocks with sliding, diving and leaping catching.
True to form, UW-Whitewater did not quit as Dani Peshia blasted a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but SMU held on for the win.
All of the UWW hits came from different Warhawks in the game. Josie Hammen suffered the loss to move to 18-3 on the season.
In a season that featured big win streaks, thrilling comeback victories and numerous gritty team wins, Friday was the first time UW-Whitewater had fallen in back-to-back games across their 47-game 2025 campaign.
Updated 5/23/25 @ 6:55 p.m. to add information regarding ticket prices, parking, etc.
By Broderick Frye
Assistant Sports Information Director
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 (768th 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 seven Titan batters.
The Warhawks and Titans will return to Prucha Field Saturday, May 24 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.
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This Whitewater Banner article provides the story of how UW-W baseball won the right to compete in the Super Regional, which will be held on their home field.
2025 NCAA Division III Baseball Super Regional
Hosted by UW-Whitewater | May 23-24, 2025
Prucha Field at Jim Miller Stadium
910 W. Schwager Dr.
*NO PETS allowed at Prucha Field per NCAA Policy*
Tickets – Cash only
$10 – Adults
$8 – Seniors / Students
Parking
Lots 22 (nearest Prucha Field) and 24 (next to Perkins Stadium)
NO PARKING IN LOT 11 (by the Williams Center)
More information regarding the teams’ records, rosters and stats may be found here.
Updated 5/23/25 @ 5:11 p.m. to correct the day of the first game to Thursday and the second game to Friday.
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Winona, Minn. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team opened the NCAA Division III Winona Super Regional with a 5-3 win over host Saint Mary’s on Thursday. The win marked the 800th on Head Coach Brenda Volk’s career at UWW.
The Warhawks set the tone early. Bella Eggert hit a rocket down the left field line, beating the third baseman for a leadoff single. Kiarra Kostroski laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Eggert to third and Emma Giese followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners. Grace Wickman blasted a deep ball straight back up the middle that even the center fielder turned to watch sail over the fence.
The Cardinals, a small ball style team, plated two in the bottom of the first courtesy of three base knocks.
That score held until the fourth when UWW got the offense going with two outs. Claire Kohnle sparked the bats with a hard single through the left side. JJ Jakosalem followed with a soft liner that fell just inside the foul line in shallow left field. Kaitlyn Weidemann’s single to right field had Kohnle cruising around the bases. Volk sent her and Kohnle slid to the backside of home. The catcher put the tag on, but the umpire was signaling for obstruction. Kohnle’s run counted on the call to give UWW a 4-2 advantage.
The top of the seventh saw more two-out offense from the Warhawk bats. Eggert singled to center. The speedster was flying around the bases to score on Kostroski’s double that went off the left fielder’s glove near the wall. The run gave UW-Whitewater a three-run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh.
After a leadoff single down the left field line, Weidemann nearly robbed a second base hit. A blooper just over the infield toward the right field line had the second baseman laying out but it was just out of her reach. Brooke Hock took over for Josie Hammen in the circle and got out of the inning with three consecutive groundouts.
Eggert paced the offense with a 2-3 day at the plate while Wickman tallied three RBI on the bomb.
Hammen got the start and the win tossing six innings to improve to 18-2 on the season. Hock shutout the Cardinals in the final inning for her eighth save of the season.
The Warhawks return to the diamond in Winona tomorrow for game two of the three-game series at 1 PM on Friday. A third game will start at 3:30 Friday if necessary.
Editor’s note: This press release was received from UW-Whitewater.
As was previously announced on The Whitewater Banner, the UW-W Softball Team won their regional contest and is playing in the Super Regional in Winona, MN.
- Winona, Minnesota – Saint Mary’s
- Thursday, May 22
- Game 1: Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 3 p.m.
- Friday, May 23
- Game 2: Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 2 p.m.
- Game 3 (if necessary): Wis.-Whitewater vs. Saint Mary’s, 4:30 p.m.
- Thursday, May 22
- The games should be livestreamed here.
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