BASEBALL … Zalnis Powers UW-W in NCAA Tourney Opener

UW-Whitewater defeated St. Scholastica Wednesday 7-4 in their first game of the double elimination National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III regional tournament at E.J. Schneider Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The win advances the Warhawks (36-8) to the next game in the winners bracket, Thursday, May 15 at 4:00 against the winner of the Wednesday afternoon's game between Carthage College and UW-Oshkosh.

The Warhawks took an early lead in the bottom of the first after Aaron Dott retired the Saints in the top half of the inning. Ben Kuhlmann got things started with a single off of Saints pitcher Peter Burg. Kuhlmann advanced to scoring position on a failed pickoff attempt and moved to third on a ground out by Jeff Donovan. Tom Corcoran reached on another error by St. Scholastica to put runners on the corners. Kevin Zalnis dropped a single into center field that scored Kuhlmann, and Ben Prather followed with another single to score Corcoran and give UW-W a 2-0 lead.

A solo home run by Zalnis in the bottom of the third gave the Warhawks a 3-0 advantage.
The Saints put a four spot on the board in the top of the sixth to take the lead. A double by Sean Claugherty scored the first run for the Saints and a three-run home run by Mike Lewis gave them the lead.

Zalnis stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with Donovan on first and Kuhlmann on third and connected on another long ball to take back the lead for UW-W. The home run is Zalnis' sixteenth of the season. Zalnis is alone in third place in the UW-W record book with sixteen, with Brady Endl (2004) and Pat Tobiasz (1998) tied for the school season record.

A pinch-hit solo home run by Cory Trepanier in the bottom of the eighth extended the lead for UW-Whitewater to 7-4. Trepanier, appearing in his seventh game of the season with twelve at bats, notched his second home run of the year.

Gregg Reik came on in relief of Dott in the seventh to earn the win. Reik is 3-0 this season. Burg, who was previously undefeated at 10-0 this season, earned the loss for the Saints.

Kuhlmann and Zalnis both went 3X5 with Zalnis driving in five of UW-W's seven runs. Donovan was 2X4.

For additional information:
UW-Whitewater baseball post-season site: http://www.uwwsports.com/Sports/baseball/2008/baseball_2008_ncaa_regional.asp
Regional host site: http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/2008OshkoshRegional/index.html
John Vodenlich, UW-W head coach, 262-472-1420