Today is Monday, July 22, 2024
Warhawks Force Second Game against Salve Regina with 7-4 win
The two will battle it out for the last spot in the NCAA DIII World Series
By Broderick P. Frye
Asst. Sports Information Director
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater forces a second game against Salve Regina after defeating the Seahawks 7-4 on Monday afternoon.
The Warhawks got two base runners in the first inning, but Salve Regina closed out the inning without allowing a Warhawk run. One of the baserunners was Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South), who recorded his 86th hit, setting a new Warhawk single season hit record.
The Seahawks ended up being the ones to break open the scoreboard, a RBI double in the top of the third.
Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) tied it up with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, scoring the first run for the Warhawks against Salve Regina. The Seahawks regained their lead after a runner scored from third as the Warhawks turned a double play.
Down 2-1, it didn’t take long for UWW to regain the lead. With bases loaded, Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) hitting a standing triple down the right field line to put the Warhawks up 4-2. One of the runners that scored was Scolan, who set yet another record with his 78th run, a single season high for the Warhawks.
An inning later, Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) singled up the middle to drive in another run. The three-run cushion didn’t last too long, as Salve Regina’s D’Amato hit a two-run to close the Warhawk lead to just one.
After a scoreless inning from both teams in the 7th, Cootway stepped up again with an RBI single. Paden followed him with his own RBI single, regaining the three-run cushion.
Ethan Wickman (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley) and Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) closed out the game for the Warhawks on the mound. Eisenbarth picked up the save, with the Seahawks going down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Wickman picked up the win, pitching the 7th and 8th innings without allowing a hit.
The Warhawks return to the field tonight (estimated start time 8:45 PM EDT – 7:45 PM CDT) against Salve Regina. The two will battle it out for the last spot in the NCAA DIII World Series Finals, [which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.]
By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
In the Pool B Championship game on Monday afternoon, UW-Whitewater (#3) beat Salve Regina (#2) (SR) 7-4. Salve Regina had beaten the Warhawks earlier in the series, 2-0. With this victory, Whitewater stays alive once again and will face SR a third time on Monday evening in a game that will decide which team goes on to the championship on Wednesday and Thursday. The game is scheduled to begin on Monday at 7:00 CDT, but it appears that it could start somewhat later.
Editor’s note: We will hopefully be able to publish a UW-W provided recap of the above game before the start of tonight’s game.
Paden with Walk-Off Homer to Cap off Warhawk Comeback over BSC
Warhawks defeat Birmingham-Southern 11-10 to keep season alive
By Broderick P. Frye
Asst. Sports Information Director
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater kept their season alive with an 11-10 win over Birmingham-Southern College. The Warhawks were down by five runs heading into the 7th, but the Warhawks kept their composure and rallied back. The win was capped off by Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) hitting a walk-off homer one pitch into the bottom of the 9th.
Jack Hagen (San Clemente, Cal./San Clemente) only needed six batters to get through the first two innings, keeping the Panthers off the base path. The Warhawks offense capitalized in the bottom of the 2nd, with Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) starting off the scoring with a solo home run. Dominik McVay (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) followed suit, hitting his own solo homer immediately after.
Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) finished out the 3-run second inning with an RBI single to send Bennett Frazer (Oconto, Wis./Oconto) home.
Birmingham-Southern used the top of the third to close the gap, as Eli Steadman hit a 2-run homer to close the gap 3-2.
After the Panthers held the Warhawks scoreless in the 3rd, they took the lead with a 3-run 4th inning. The scoring started with another home run.
The game turned into a home run derby, as Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) sent a 2-run homer to right field in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game back up at 5 a-piece.
With the tie game, Birmingham-Southern flipped the momentum back to their side with a four-run frame in the top of the 5th.
In the top of the 6th, the Panthers extended the lead once again, taking a 10-5 lead over the Warhawks. With a three-up-three-down inning for UWW in the bottom of the 6th the Warhawks were running out of outs to play with.
Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) sparked some life back into the Warhawks, hitting a two-run double after a Birmingham-Southern error extended the inning.
With Max Huseboe (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) and Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) combining for a scoreless inning, the Warhawks entered the bottom of the 8th down 10-7.
Scolan kept up his amazing game, with an RBI double to score McVay and close the gap to 10-8. After being quiet offensively for most of the game, Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) was due as he scored himself and Scolan with a home run to tie the game up.
Eisenbarth got things done in three batters, including winning a 9-pitch at bat for the final out.
The Warhawks had three outs to score in regulation, but Sam Paden (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) only needed one pitch to walk things off. Paden hit his second home run of the night, keeping the Warhawks’ season alive.
The Warhawks defeated Birmingham-Southern 11-10 after the walk-off. Eisenbarth picked up the win, pitching the final four outs of the game.
The Warhawks will head back out for a rematch against Salve Regina in the Pool B championship game. The first pitch is set for Monday at 1:15 PM ET [12:15 PM in Whitewater.] The Warhawks will need to win two in order to advance to the NCAA World Series Championship Game.
Editor’s note: This game was the last that Birmingham-Southern will ever play, as the college closed effective May 31 due to declining enrollment and financial struggles. Here’s the link to a story about how much being in the World Series meant to Birmingham-Southern’s fans.
Under cloudy skies and a steady, gentle rain, junior Traysen Thomason settled into the blocks for the final of the 100m dash one last time. Once the gun fired, Traysen lived up to the phrase “shot out of the blocks” as he easily had the best, and most explosive, start in the field. Traysen then began to put together his most complete race of the season over 100m. His drive phase was smooth and he battled as the finish line neared. His ability to stay loose through the finish line, rather than tightening up and forcing it, allowed him to be faster than Eli Kerner from Northland Pines as both athletes finished in 11.14, and the officials needed to go the 1000th of a second to break the tie. Traysen was faster, 11.134 to 11.139, and earned himself a spot on the podium for the first time in his career in 4th overall. Traysen finished his season as the fourth fastest 100m sprinter in school history with his season best time of 10.93 at the WIAA Sectional Meet. Traysen is the highest finisher in this event for the Whippets since Matt Gordy finished 3rd in 2006.
The rain had stopped moments before junior Jack Hefty stepped onto the track in an attempt to defend his state title from one year ago. After a physical start that saw Jack get tripped up, he regained his footing and settled into the back 1/3 of the race. Like an African lion hunting his prey, Jack methodically made moves throughout the race, first moving up from 11th after lap one to 6th place after two laps. Still eyeing his prey, and knowing it would take every ounce of his ability to earn another title, he moved up after three laps into 4th place. Moving onto the shoulder of Owen Clark of Lakeland and Cam Weiland of Lakeside Lutheran with 300m to go, the race was truly on. Cam was soon left behind, and it became a two-horse race at that point. With 120 to go, and the over 6,000 fans in attendance beginning to roar, Jack sprang into attack mode and went for the jugular. They were neck and neck down the homestretch before Jack was able to inch away and secure his second straight state title. To make the victory even sweeter, Jack ran a new lifetime best by over 3 seconds, lowering his school record from one year ago, down to 4:13.00. Across all divisions, Jack’s time was the fourth fastest and earned him All-State Honors in this event. The top six individuals in each event earn this honor.
Senior Ethan Dugan was ready to take on the 400m dash final one last time in his career. Having finished eighth last year, he was ready to make his first appearance on the podium and see how much he had in him as he tried to take down Addison Uddin from Osceola. As the second fastest seed in the final, Ethan was lined up with Addison to his (left) inside lane and would not see him due to the stagger, but rather Addison had the advantage to see him to his right, on the outside lane. As the race unfolded. Ethan got out quickly trying to distance himself from Addison. Ethan did just that and later said he felt Addison coming up on his left, and he continued to press on the accelerator. Ethan continued to fly down the backstretch and final curve before going into overdrive to put all he had left in the final 100 meters. Ethan charged across the finish line to secure a silver medal and ran a lifetime best, lowering his school record. Ethan’s time of 48.61 was the 5th fastest across all divisions, and like Jack, earned All-State recognition. Ethan is the highest Whippet finisher since Matt Ninneman was 2nd in 1999.
The 4x400m relay was the final race of the day on the track, and the Whippets did not disappoint. Ethan Dugan started very well and made up the stagger on the field early on. He stormed down the front stretch splitting a 49.4 second relay leg as he handed off to teammate Quincy Boudreau with the lead. Quincy took the stick around the track uncontested as the team held the lead. Quincy ran a lifetime best of 51.6 as he handed off to Jack Hefty. Jack then took off around the first curve trying to run away from a storming Lakeside Lutheran athlete before battling down the front stretch to hand off the baton for the final time to Nate Holden with the relay in second place. Jack also ran a lifetime best, a 50.93 fully automatic timed split. Nate Holden ran with guts and determination and chased the Lakeside Lutheran athlete as he rounded the curve for the final time in a Whippet uniform. Nate was only passed by one runner as he, like Quincy and Jack, also ran a lifetime best in his leg of the race, a 51.29 second fully automatic split. The team secured the third position and a spot on the podium to cap off a terrific day. Their time of 3:23.52 was just .10 seconds off the school record, but the third best time in school history. This is the highest relay finish in the 4×400 since 2008 when the relay team of Aaron Holschbach, Sam Moffatt, Alex Adkinson, and Grant Bughman won the state title.
Full Results: D2 BOYS , D2 GIRLS
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Track and Field Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photos Courtesy of Erica Holden
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