RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon baseball team proved Wednesday afternoon that they are capable of playing with one of the best teams in Division-III. After losing the first game of a doubleheader to fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater by a score of 8-2, the Red Hawks took a one-run lead into the ninth inning of game two, only to drop that contest by a 9-8 margin.

After two scoreless innings in the day's first game, UW-Whitewater (12-2) struck first with a three-run third inning, scoring on a Blake Fleischman double, a sac fly by Brett Krause, and an RBI single by Connor Schneider. UW-W added two more runs in the fifth on a triple by Will Helbing, while plating two more in the seventh on a double by Jordan Kuczynski and a Helbing sac fly.

The Warhawks added another run in the eighth on an RBI single by Krause, before Ripon (4-13) scored twice in the bottom of that inning. The Red Hawks' first run came on a Nick Taranto single up the middle, while Josh Oswald scored the other.

Ripon finished the game with seven hits, with Oswald leading the way with a 3-for-5 performance. David Knapp (0-2) got the start, allowing four earned runs and striking out three in five innings of work.

UW-Whitewater recorded 10 hits, with three players posting two hits apiece. Michael Kaska (1-2) spun six shutout innings to earn the victory, giving up four hits and striking out six.

UW-W got out to another lead in the second game with a run in the top of the first, but Ripon answered with three runs on five hits in the bottom of that inning. Taranto, Hector Aguinaga, and Bennett Groves each drove in a run, but the Red Hawks would leave the bases loaded in that frame. Ripon added five runs on six more hits in the second inning. All five runs came with two outs, including RBI singles by Brice Swick, Aguinaga, and Robbie Schuettpelz, and a run-scoring double by Groves.

The Warhawks would slowly but surely cut into that lead, scoring twice in the third, once in the fourth, and three times in the fifth to cut Ripon's lead to 8-7, which is where the score would remain entering the ninth inning. In that final frame, UW-W tied the game on an RBI single from Ryan Makuski, before scoring the go-ahead run on a fielding error by the Red Hawks.

Ripon finished the game with 12 hits, led by Groves who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Swick and Aguinaga added two hits apiece. Chris Huettner (0-2) suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing just one earned run on three hits in his three innings of relief.

UW-Whitewater also finished with 12 hits, led by Makuski, who went 4-for-5 at the dish with two RBI. Ankur Shah (2-0) earned the win, allowing just three hits and striking out seven in 6.1 innings of relief. Austin Jones picked up his first save of the year with a perfect ninth inning.

Ripon will now jump back into conference play this weekend when they'll travel to St. Norbert College for a doubleheader Saturday at Noon in De Pere, Wis. LiveStats will be available for those games at http://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm.