“We have Riley Tincher back, and Jeff Donovan back, and that gives us two great arms out there,” UW-Whitewater head coach John Vodenlich tells voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com. Tincher, now a senior, is coming off a dominating 2010 season.
Jeff Donovan is also back in the Hawks’ starting rotation this spring. Despite starting for the Warhawks in his freshman and sophomore seasons, 2010 was the first time that Donovan was given a major role on his team’s pitching staff. Donovan earned his All-America recognition with his versatility both on the mound and in the field. The lanky righthander appeared in ten games as a pitcher. He sported the second lowest earned run average on the team at 3.79 to go along with his 4-1 record in nine starts. Donovan earned All-WIAC recognition both as a pitcher and as a 1st baseman.
Aaron Leitner also returns from last year’s UWW starting pitching rotation. The Chilton native finished his sophomore season with an outstanding 7 & 1 record. Leitner was a major part of a UW-Whitewater pitching staff that ranked No.1 in WIAC pitching statistics last season.
The Hawks must replace Brian Hooper in the starting rotation. The big righthander out of Lake Mills finished his senior season with a 7 & 3 record highlighted by hurling the Warhawks’ first no hitter since 2008.
Another major hole to fill will be the"closers" role with the loss of Ben Versnik in the MLB draft last June. Versnick was selected iby the Seatlle Mariners in the 38th round, 1152 overall. Versnik spent his rookie season with the Mariner's Rookie League affiliate, the Pulaski (Virginia) Mariners Advanced Rookie League team in the Appalachian League.
The WIAC's top relief pitcher was dominating last spring. Ben posted the lowest earned run average (3.04 in 20 appearances) on the team that finished the season with a 42-5 record. He also posted seven saves, the highest single season total of any pitcher in UW-W history. Versnik posted a 2-1 record in relief making one start and also adding 35 strikeouts over 26.2 innings pitched. He held opposing hitters to a mere .220 batting average.
"I was impressed on the way our staff kept us in a number of games, particularly in Florida,” UW-Whitewater head coach John Vodenlich indicated earlier this week.. Colin Grove is coming off an outstanding spring training. The freshman from Beloit Memorial High School will enter Thursday’s home opener vs. Ripon College with a 0.00 ERA (7 innings/4 appearances), giving up just 3 hits while striking out six while issuing just four walks.
The UWW bullpen in general had an excellent “south swing” to open the season. Brock Liston (jr), Andrew Bauer (soph) and Tom Kerndt (soph) also have not allowed a run while all pitching less than an inning. In relief. The threesome allowed just one hit and one walk through the team’s first seven games.
One of the main cog’s in last year’s bullpen was sophomore relief specialist Kyle Lee. The former Beaver Dam High School athlete had among the best statistics in the nation to start last season’s campaign. Known as “Bulldog,” Lee appeared in the conference high 13 games, through the team’s first 22 games last season. At that point of the season Kyle was 6 & 0 with 1 save, all in relief. In 34 innings pitched, Lee had struck out 30 while walking just 6 batters. Lee finished the season with the 6 win, 0 loss record.
Lee's only outing during the Hawks Florida trip earlier this month was a gem in long relief in the Warhawks' 7-6 victory over St.Thomas (Minn) on March 20th. Lee came on in relief of UWW starter Jack Larson with two outs in the first and faced 33 batters, giving up seven hits, two runs, walking three and striking out three Tommie batters. Lee went eight innings to earn his first victory of the year in his first appearance.
In Coach Vodenlich's words, "pitching and defense are always the key to our team's success."
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