SAUGET, Ill. - The Westminster Blue Jays could not match a pair of mammoth innings from Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The top-seeded Warhawks tallied four runs apiece in the fifth and eighth innings to pull away for an 11-4 victory over No. 6 Westminster College on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Division III Central Regional at GCS Ballpark.
The Blue Jays (28-14) will now play No. 2 seed Wartburg (Iowa) College (33-12) in an elimination game at noon today. Wartburg was upset by No. 5 seed Rose-Hulman (Ind.) 7-2 in a first-round matchup Wednesday afternoon.
Westminster grabbed an early lead against Wisconsin-Whitewater (30-14) when it put up a run in the top of the second. Sophomore second baseman Blake Strebler reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on junior designated hitter Connor Hager's two-out walk and scored on junior catcher Nolan Bax's single to right.
The Warhawks tied the game on catcher Dane Burman's solo home run to left in the bottom of the third and then opened up a 5-1 advantage behind their outburst in the fifth. Wisconsin-Whitewater added a run in the sixth, but the Blue Jays narrowed the gap by producing three runs in the seventh.
Bax was safe on a one-out error and sophomore shortstop Adam Mundle followed by drawing a walk. After senior left fielder Deion Hughes lined out to right, senior third baseman Tyler Branneky was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior first baseman Nick Cessna then singled to score Bax and Mundle.
Following a pitching change by the Warhawks, sophomore center fielder Nick Bohlmann reached on an error and Branneky raced home on the play to bring Westminster within 6-4. That would be as close as the Blue Jays would get and Wisconsin-Whitewater tacked on a run in its half of the seventh and then sealed the win with its breakout in the eighth.
Cessna went 2-for-5 with a double as the Blue Jays totalled eight hits. Bohlmann was also 2-for-4.
Westminster senior starter Collin Brinker surrendered seven runs, only three earned, on 12 hits over seven innings in being tagged with the loss. Brinker (9-3) - a North Callaway graduate - struck out three and issued two walks. The Blue Jays committed three errors.