Jacob DeMeyer’s Highlight-Reel Catch (second inning of Game 1)
The No. 16 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team extended its win streak to eight games Wednesday with back-to-back victories over UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.
The Warhawks (8-1 overall, 2-0 WIAC) claimed the opener by a 9-2 score before posting an 8-3 triumph in Game 2.
In Game 1, UW-Whitewater totaled 13 hits offensively and crossed the plate five times in the bottom of the first inning, and pitchers Westin Muir and Connor Spear combined to strand nine Eagle runners. Muir (3-0) scattered eight hits over seven innings, striking out six, and Spear tossed two scoreless innings in relief.
Right fielder Jacob DeMeyer finished 3-for-4 at the plate with one run scored and one run batted in and made a spectacular catch in foul territory to end the top of the second inning. He chased down a pop up near the Warhawk bullpen and, running full speed, crashed into and tumbled over the fence, hanging on for a highlight-reel play and the final out of the frame.
Left fielder Matt Korman tallied two hits and two RBIs, and third baseman Tucker Criswell reached base four times with two hits and two walks while scoring a pair of runs. Centerfielder Zach Campbell and first baseman Donovan Brandl collected two hits apiece.
Brandl, designated hitter Connor Moroder, shortstop Nick Santoro and catcher Ryan Norton also plated runs for UW-Whitewater.
In the nightcap, the UW-La Crosse (5-3, 0-2) took a 2-0 advantage through 2 1/2 innings before the Warhawks plated four runs in the bottom of the third, including a two-run home run by Korman, an RBI groundout by designated hitter Ian Drays and a run-scoring single by second baseman Sam Vomhof.
Vomhof drove home Santoro with another base hit in the bottom of the fifth, and Korman added two more insurance runs with another two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, third baseman Ben Wilkins plated Vomhof, who tripled to lead off the frame, on a sacrifice fly.
Korman and Vomhof combined for five of UW-Whitewater’s seven hits in the contest.
Matt O’Sullivan didn’t allow a run on the mound after the third, finishing with seven strikeouts in his seven innings pitched to improve to 3-0 on the year. Connor Moroder tossed the eighth and the ninth in relief.
The Warhawks visit UW-La Crosse for two more conference games this Friday starting at 1 p.m.
