Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Warhawks part of outstanding pitching on Day 1 of NCAA Division III Midwest Regional

There were some outstanding pitching performances in day-one of NCAA Division III Midwest Regional action Wednesday.

For UW-Whitewater head coach John Vodenlich, the choice was to pitch by committee in its game-one battle against St. Thomas (Minn).

Jeff Donovan went the first three innings giving up just one run on three hits while striking out five Tommie batters.

Riley Tincher was next, going four innings giving up just one run (home run to the first batter he faced)

Eric Schmitz pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Rob Coe came in to retire three straight in the 9th inning to pick up his second save of the season.

Why the “pitch by committee” approach?

“No. 1, our idea was that we put seniors on the mound today,” Vodenlich indicated during his postgame press conference. “We want to keep all our pitchers in the mix this weekend. Donovan is now set for bullpen duty tomorrow (Thursday) as is Tincher. Riley could also start on Friday.”

Winning your opening game in a six-team, double-elimination format is highly advantageous and Vodenlich used that senior experience on the mound to accomplish the goal.

Wednesday’s other two games also featured outstanding pitching.

In the opener, UW-Stevens Point ace, Scott Williams, pitched all ten innings in the Pointers’ 3-2 10 inning win over Aurora University. The Spartans Drew Gay also went the distance for Aurora giving up just the three runs.

In Hamline’s 3-2, 13 inning win over St. Scholastica, both starters, Cass Kreitlow (Hamline) and Matt Lewis (CSS) pitched the first 12 innings of the game.

For a look at Thursday’s games, box scores, game recaps and more, CLICK HERE

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