UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse both earned opening round wins on Thursday at the NCAA D-3 Midwest Baseball Regional in Whitewater.
The top-seeded and host Warhawks (36-7) held off St. Norbert College 4-2 in their opening round game.
Heath Renz (pictured) allowed one run and struck out five in four innings to improve to 9-0 on the season. Mike Nompleggi earned his 7th save.
Blake Fleischman and Steve Chamberlain both had RBI doubles for the Warhawks, who improved to 36-7.
Whitewater will face La Crosse in a winners bracket matchup at 4:30 p.m. today. In eight meetings this season, the Warhawks are 7-1 against the Eagles.
La Crosse cruises on day 1
Joel Zyhowski drove in three runs for the Eagles as they rolled to a 11-2 win over the Saints of St. Scholastica (32-9) in the first game of the day on Thursday.
The Eagles (29-17) scored six runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-2 lead and never looked back.
Caleb Boushley (9-2) earned the win, striking out seven in eight innings.
St. Scholastica will face St. Norbert College (30-12) at 10 a.m. Friday in an elimination game.
(Photo Courtesy of UW-Whitewater Athletics)