Hawks sweep Wash U with 16-10 win Friday in St. Louis

The UW-Whitewater baseball team heads back to Wisconsin following two convincing wins over Washington University in St. Louis.

After opening the season on Thursday with an 11-1 win over Wash U, the Hawks put another 16 runs on the scoreboard on Friday in a 16-10 win to sweep the two-game series over the Bears.

UW-Whitewater (2-0), outscored the Wash U 27-11 in the two-game sweep and pounded out 28 hits. The Warhawks had 16 hits in the game two win on Friday.

Danny Putnam (in the adjacent photo) led the hit parade on the Hawks trip to St. Louis. The senior right fielder went 5-for-5 with three runs scored on Friday, finishing the two-game series 8-for-9 with six runs scored.

Rob Coe had another big day at the plate for the Hawks. The senior catcher was 2-for-2 with four RBIs in the Friday’s win. On Thursday Coe clobbered Wash U pitching by going 3 for 5 including a double and home run along with four runs batted in. Matt Meisenheim, er was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored n Friday for UW-Whitewater including a three-run home run.

Jeff Donovan earned the victory by pitching five and two-thirds innings, giving up seven hits, six earned runs, four walks, and four strikeouts. The Warhawks had an active bullpen with five pitchers (Colin Grove, Justin Lambert, Andrew Bauer and Brock Liston) seeing mound duty in Friday's win. Eric Schmitz, Colin Grove, Jack Larsen, and Tom Kerndt combined to pitch three innings in relief of game one winner, Riley Tincher.

The Hawks will be off until opening its 2011 spring training trip to central Florida on March 17th vs. St. Lawrence in Lake Bonny, Fla..

Hawks open season with 11-1 win at Wash U

The Warhawks rolled to an 11-1 season opening win over Washington University at Kelly Field in St. Louis, Missouri Thursday afternoon. UW-W, which scored eight of its runs with two outs, is ranked fifth in the D3baseball.com preseason poll and Washington University is 2-3. The same teams will meet again Friday at 12:00 in Saint Louis.

The Warhawks collected eleven hits and did not commit an error. Danny Putnam went 3 for 4, and also reached on a walk, while scoring three runs from his leadoff position. Rob Coe went 3 for 5 including a home ran, four runs batted in and also scored two runs.

(In the adjacent photo is senior catcher Rob Coe who is coming off a sensational junior year for the UWW baseball team. Coe paced the Warhawk offense in Thursday's season opener going 3 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBI)

Senior lefty Riley Tincher, 13-1 a year ago, went five innings, gave up seven hits and one earned run to pick up the win. Tincher walked two and struck out three. Eric Schmitz, Colin Grove, Jack Larsen and Tom Kerndt closed out the game without giving up a hit or a walk.

UW-W will play game two of the season-openng series against Washington University Friday at 12:00. Rain is predicted for the Saint Louis area, so the teams agreed to move the original start time of 2:00 up two hours to try to beat the weather.

Hawks change opening weekend location from Omaha to St. Louis

Detour season normally doesn't get underway until April 1st but The UW-Whitewater baseball team will open its season this weekend in St. Louis instead of Omaha. Whitewater was scheduled to play three nonconference games vs. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn) in Omaha however lack of a baseball stadium this weekend has resulted in the revised schedule.

At the "11th hour" the UWW baseball team will be travelling to St. Louis this weekend for single games on Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th vs. Washington University of St. Louis.

The Bears are coming off a 17 & 15 record in 2010.

The Warhawks are coming off an outstanding 42 & 7 mark in 2010, including both the WIAC regular season and postseason titles.

The Hawks open its annual spring break trip to Florida with games beginning on March 17th.

Warhawk baseball closing in a season opening weekend in Omaha, Nebraska

Coming off an outstanding 42 & 7 record in 2010, the defending WIAC regular season and postseason champions have been busy during the preseason filling holes in the lineup due to graduation.

There is an old baseball axiom in baseball that for success you must be strong up the middle.

Gone from last year's Warhawk baseball team are Mike Kenseth and Ben Kuhlmann, the WIAC’s top shortstop/2nd hase combination. Also finishing up his eligibility was multi-year All-WIAC centerfielder Jordan Stine.

Third baseman Nick Rechlitz must also be replaced

“It all boils down to pitching, hitting and defense” 2010 WIAC Coach of the Year John Vodenlich tells Voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com. “During preseason practice we have done the same thing we do every year. We believe if we can throw, catch, hit, run, and play defense, the fundamentals, we will win the majority of games again this year.”

“Having said that, it always begins with pitching and defense,” Vodenlich said. “Both Riley Tincher and Jeff Donovan are back and that gives us two great arms at the top of our rotation.”

“With the loss of our shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder, filling those rolls will be vitally important,” Vodenlich indicated in an interview last week. “If we can fill those spots satisfactorly I think we’ll do just fine.”

The Hawks open the season with three nonconference games vs. Concordia-Moorehead (Minn) next weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday (March 4th) and a single game on Saturday (March 5th)

The Hawks once again will head to central Florida for a jampacked eight days of games beginning on March 17th.

The Warhawks’ home opener is a doubleheader vs. Bethel University (Minn) on March 26th on Prucha Field at James Miller Stadium.

Check back often this week as I’ll be blogging numerous articles previewing the 2011 Warhawk baseball team. My tentative plans will also have me travelling to Omaha this weekend to keep UWW baseball fans “in the know” on the season-opening three games vs. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn).

2011 UW-Whitewater Warhawk Baseball Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time/Result
3/4/2011 Concordia Moorhead (DH)
Omaha, NE 12:00 PM

3/5/2011 Concordia Moorhead (DH)
Omaha, NE 11:00 AM

3/17/2011 St. Lawrence (Reserve) (Spring Training)
FL, Lake Bonny #2 5:00 PM

3/18/2011 Southern Maine (Reserve) (Spring Training)
FL, Lake Myrtle #3 9:30 AM

3/19/2011 St. Olaf (Spring Training) (DH)
FL, Pat Thomas Stadium 1:00 PM

3/20/2011 St. Thomas (Spring Training)
FL, Lake Myrtle #3 11:30 AM

3/20/2011 Benedictine (Reserve) (Spring Training)
Lake Myrtle #4 3:00 PM

3/21/2011 Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Spring Training)
FL, Lake Myrtle #1 10:00 AM

3/21/2011 St. Thomas (Spring Training)
FL, Lake Myrtle #2 2:00 PM

3/22/2011 Allegheny (PA) Reserve
FL, Chain of Lakes #3 10:00 AM

3/23/2011 Minnesota Twins (Minor League) (Spring Training)
Fort Myers, FL 1:00 PM

3/26/2011 Bethel University (MN) (DH)
Whitewater 12:00 PM

3/31/2011 Ripon College (DH)
Ripon, WI 1:00 PM

4/2/2011 * UW-Superior (DH)
Whitewater 12:00 PM

4/3/2011 * UW-Superior (DH)
Whitewater 12:00 PM

4/9/2011 * UW-Stevens Point (DH)
Stevens Point, WI 12:00 PM

4/10/2011 * UW-Stevens Point (DH)
Stevens Point, WI 12:00 PM

4/13/2011 * UW-Platteville (DH)
Whitewater 1:00 PM

4/16/2011 * UW-Stout (DH)
Menomonie, WI 12:00 PM

4/17/2011 * UW-Stout (DH)
Menomonie, WI 12:00 PM

4/21/2011 Concordia University (IL)
Whitewater 1:00 PM

4/27/2011 * UW-Platteville (DH)
Whitewater 1:00 PM

4/30/2011 * UW-Oshkosh (DH)
Oshkosh, WI 12:00 PM

5/1/2011 * UW-Oshkosh (DH)
Oshkosh, WI 12:00 PM

5/6/2011 * UW-La Crosse (DH)
Whitewater 1:00 PM

5/7/2011 * UW-La Crosse (DH)
Whitewater 12:00 PM

5/10/2011 Concordia University (WI)
Whitewater 1:00 PM

WIAC POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT - May 13th & May 14th TBA

Hawks ranked 5th in D3baseball.com Preseason Poll

The 2011 NCBWA/d3baseball.com preseason poll is out, and the UW-Whitewater baseball team opens the season rated No. 5 in the nation.

The Warhawks captured the the 2010 WIAC regular season title and finished the season with a very impressive 42-7 record.

The team will begin the season on March 4-5 in Omaha, Nebraska with a pair of nonconference doubleheaders vs Concordia-Moorhead (Minnesota).

The Warhawks were originally scheduled to open in the Metrodomein in Minneapolis, but the a December 12th collapse of the Dome has forced cancellation of all games until at least the end of May.

The first home games of the season will be played April 2 at 1 pm and April 3 at 12 pm against UW-Superior. All home games are played at Prucha Field in Jim Miller Stadium on the north end of the UW-W campus.

Warhawks to open 2011 season in Omaha

Hello again Warhawk baseball fans... I'm Tom Pattison and lets get started with my 2011 UW-Whitewater baseball blog.

Over the past decade, the Warhawks have opened its season by playing at least a couple of doubleheaders at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. It was an excellent way of getting the season started prior to heading to Florida (or Arizona) for its annual spring training trip.

This season Whitewater is being forced to find another location for its early season games due to the much publicized collape of the Metrodome roof back in December.

The Hawks are now scheduled to open the season with a pair of doubleheaders in Omaha, Nebraska. The Hawks will play Concordia-Moorhead (Minn) with doubleheaders set for Friday, March 4th and Saturday March 5th. The Central Florida portion of the schedule opens on Thursday, March 17th.

The Metrodome's Teflon roof collapsed after Minneapolis got more than 17 inches of snow. No injuries were reported in the collapse.

UW-Whitewater head coach John Vodenlich was notified in January that all games at the Metrodome scheduled for this spring would be cancelled. Work on replacement of the dome could get underway by the middle of March with a goal of finishing by Aug. 1st at an estimated cost of $18.3 million.