Warhawks claim NCAA berth

Baseball team lands No. 3 seed in Central Region

By: Christopher Kuhagen

Posted: 5/13/09

Baseball head coach John Vodenlich woke up to the best possible news Monday morning.

After losing to UW-Stevens Point in the WIAC tournament final last Saturday, Vodenlich was not anticipating a berth into the 54-team NCAA field.

And while he thought his team's season could be over, the selection committee awarded the 'Hawks an at-large berth.

"I was extremely happy," Vodenlich said. "Baseball's a great game. As much as were all disappointed Saturday, the sun came up Sunday and now anything's possible at this point."

With their new life, the Warhawks (26-17), seeded No. 3, battle the No. 4-seeded Washington University Bears (25-10) today at 7 p.m. in Moline, Ill, in the opening round of the six-team Central Regional.

"I don't know much about them yet," Vodenlich said. "We're doing as much as we can to gather information about them. I just know a lot about their university."

The 'Hawks will try to turn the tide on Washington, as the Bears have been a thorn in the side of UW-Whitewater athletics, recently. The Bears have eliminated the Warhawk volleyball and basketball teams from NCAA competition the last two years.

UW-Whitewater enters regional competition with a 6-5 record in their last 11 games, while Washington University has won 10 of its last 11 contests.

Vodenlich said his team's strength-of-schedule was a reason the 'Hawks were rewarded a bid.

"We played the best competition," Vodenlich said. "I think the committee looked more at our quality wins than our losses."

The 'Hawks split with Carthage College (32-6), the No. 1 seeded team in the regional, earlier in the year. UW-Whitewater also added a win against St. Thomas (31-10), who is the No. 2-seeded team in the Midwest Regional and went 4-0 against Wooster and Otterbein, two teams ranked in the Mideast region.

While the 'Hawks did damage outside of the WIAC, Vodenlich said the committee couldn't overlook that his team defeated UW-Stevens Point (29-14), the conference tournament champions, five of seven times.

"We persevered," senior rightfielder Kevin Zalnis said. "Nobody gave us a shot. If you looked at all the D3 polls and blogs, nobody gave us a chance."

If UW-Whitewater is going to make it out of its regional and back to the NCAA World Series in Grand Chute, Wis., where they took third last year, consistency in pitching will be a priority.

During last week's two wins in the WIAC tournament, the 'Hawks allowed four total runs. But in their two losses, they gave up 23 runs.

The 'Hawks, who were looking to win their first conference tournament since 2004, lost their opening round game to UW-Stevens Point, but came back to win their next two - crushing UW-Oshkosh and edging out the Pointers in a 3-2 victory.

But the 'Hawks couldn't keep the momentum in the championship final, as they were blown out by the Pointers, 11-1.

"Our conference tournament is always a battle no matter who we play," UW-Stevens Point head coach Pat Bloom said. "I was proud of the way our guys came down, with a confident and collected toughness to be able to play good baseball when it mattered most."

But Vodenlich knows his team will perform when the regional begins today.

"All our third place finishes, our national title, those were all at-large bids," Vodenlich said. "And I have no doubt if we were given the opportunity that we would perform very well. So I have 100 percent confidence in them."

Now, they have that chance.