Warhawks "high octane" offense too much for Ripon College pitching

I blogged the other night that UW-Whitewater appears to have another “high octane” offense again this season.

Whitewater is no stranger to putting up big numbers at the plate. UWW has led the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in team batting in six of the past seven seasons.

Following Thursday afternoon’s doubleheader sweep of Ripon College, the Warhawks are hitting .353 as a team.

Leading the way are Danny Putnam and Rob Coe.

Putnam finished the day 6 for 10 and raised his batting average to a conference leading .579 while hitting safely in all nine UWW games this season.

The senior right fielder has changed his focus at the plate this season.

“I’ve shortened down my stride a little bit,” Putnam tells Voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com. “The coaches are having me focus on taking that outside pitch and hit it the other way. I’ve put a lot of work into making the change.”

Coe also continued to sizzle by cranking out 6 hits in 11 at bats and is now hitting an even .500 entering Saturday’s WIAC opening weekend vs. UW-Superior at the Mills.

“I’m more patient at the plate and really seeing the ball well,” Coe indicated following Thursday afternoon’s doubleheader sweep Ripon. “Vo (Coach Vodenlich) has worked with me to stay back on the ball. Last year I was out in front of pitches way too often.”

How well has the top four in the Hawk batting order hit the ball through nine games.?

As previously mentioned, Putnam is hitting .579, Coe .500, Jeff Donovan .457 and transfer Andrew Eichstaedt .382.

“We were a bit spotty at the plate down in Florida,” Coach Vodenlich said following the game. “We came out and hit the ball well throughout our batting order.

Every starter has at least one hit in the Hawks game-one,19-4 victory and eight of the nine starters had a least one hit in the Hawks 14-6 win in the nightcap.

Next up for the 9 & 2 Warhawks will be a pair of weekend doubleheaders vs. UW-Superior at James B. Miller Stadium. Action begins at 12-Noon both on Saturday and Sunday.

More to come…