UWW Baseball Super Regional Recap: Warhawks Advance to NCAA DIII World Series

Posted on: May 25, 2024

Warhawk bench celebrating after Adam Cootway hits a homerun (Photo Credits Angela Kelm)

By Broderick P. Frye
Asst. Sports Information Director

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team is heading to the World Series for the first time since 2016 after overcoming Friday’s loss to UW-La Crosse. The Warhawks battled back with a 8-0 first game before a 8-2 victory in the second game punched the Warhawks’ ticket to Eastlake, Ohio.

In the first game, the Warhawks opened up the scoring right in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead.

With Cade Berendt (Germantown, Wis./Germantown) doing his work on the mound, the Warhawks held the Eagles off the base path for much of the game. The Eagles did not have a runner past second the entire game.

A huge fourth inning added four more runs to the lead. Adam Cootway (DePere, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran) started off the scoring with a solo home run.

The Warhawks scored three more runs between the sixth & seventh, with the defense keeping the Eagles from scoring. The Warhawks forced game three with an 8-0 shutout win.

Berendt picked up the win, pitching one of his career best games in the battle. He pitched all 9 innings, recording a career-high 13 strikeouts as well as his first career complete game shutout.

The Warhawks carried the momentum forward into the second game of the day, scheduled to begin only 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, after tying the series up 1-1.

UWW struck first once again, with Eli Frank (Bayport, Wis./Bay Port) blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to go up 2-0. The next inning, the Warhawks added two more to their lead, going up 4-0.

The Eagles scored their first run of the day on a sacrifice fly in the top of 5th, but the Warhawks answered back with a RBI single from Aaron Holland (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) in the bottom of the frame.

The Warhawk lead was closed to just three runs in the top of the sixth as UW-La Crosse added another run to make it 5-2.

But in the bottom of the eighth, Matt Scolan (Downers Grove, Ill./South) all but sealed the game with a three-run homer to put the Warhawks up 8-2.

The freshman pitcher Jack Hagen (San Clemente, Cal./San Clemente) only needed three outs and the Warhawks sealed their spot in the 2024 NCAA DIII World Series.

Hagen picked up his ninth win of the season, pitching the whole game. He allowed only eight hits, with no runs earned on the game.

Offensively, the Warhawks had home runs from Frank, Scolan, and Cootway between the two games. Frank and Scolan each had three RBIs in the second game. Holland had two RBIs in the first game.

The Warhawks will advance to the NCAA DIII World Series held in Eastlake, Ohio from May 31 to June 7. The tournament will be two double-elimination pods of four-teams. The winners of each pod will play a best of three series for the Championship. For more information visit https://www.ncaa.com/sports/baseball/d3