Riley Tincher had a VERY GOOD Wednesday!

So you think you had a good day? I bet it wasn’t as good as Riley Tincher had.

The senior lefthanded pitcher was credited with the win after pitching four innings in UW-Whitewater’s 3-2 victory over St. Thomas (Minn) in first round action of the NCAA Division III Midwest Region being played on Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.

About 15 minutes after the conclusion of the game the senior from Oregon, Wisconsin had one more task to complete – to receive his degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in a very special commencement ceremony.

The event was conducted immediately behind Miller Stadium’s third base dugout in front of nearly 100 family, friends, teammates and classmates.

(In the adjacent photo - Riley Tincher is congratulated by UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer after being bestowed is degree during a special commencement ceremony at James B. Miller Stadium - photo courtesy of Josh Smith, Daily Jefferson County Union)

Still “coming down” from his team’s key first round playoff victory, Tincher was very excited about having his diploma presented to him on the very baseball field that he has spent so many hours playing and practicing during his UW-Whitewater college career.

“Obviously being able to celebrate this with my Mom (Brenda) at my side is awesome,” Tincher told voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com shortly after receiving his degree.

Tincher has been much more than “just” a baseball player at UW-Whitewater. Last weekend he was awarded the 2011 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award. Meanwhile, with his 3.32 grade point average Riley has also received the Universities’ President's Honor, and been a regular on the Dean's List.

Over the past several years the “special edition” graduation exercises are conducted due to the fact that a number of senior scholar-athletes have been unable to attend commencement due being a member of a Warhawk athletic team involved in NCAA tournament play at the same time graduation is taking place.

Riley Tincher is the latest. Congratulations Riley on a job well done!