Baseball

UW-Whitewater Wins NCAA Baseball Championship

**UW-Whitewater Sports Information contributed to this recap

EASTLAKE, Ohio--University of Wisconsin-Whitewater won the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship with a 21-5 victory over Messiah University (Pa.) at Classic Auto Group Park on June 4. The Warhawks won the first game of the best-of-three series 18-3.
 
It is the third national title in program history (2005, 2014) and fifth captured by a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) institution. Since the 1982-83 academic year, WIAC institutions have combined to win 132 NCAA Division III team championships.
 
The 21 runs are the second-most in a championship game in NCAA Division III history. The Warhawks established a World Series record with 74 runs in their five games. UW-Whitewater finished the 2025 campaign with a 49-6 record. The 49 wins set a program record.

The Warhawks were able to get their bats to shine early as Andy Thies delivered the first strike with a three-run homer. Cade Hansen set the tone defensively as well, dealing two strikeouts right out of the gates. A groundout to Darryl Jackson created the first 1-2-3 inning of the day for Hansen.

The Warhawks tacked on two more in the second, as Jackson got on with a double. Dominic McVay followed suit with his own double to score the shortstop, with Aaron Holland bringing in McVay with a single of his own. 

After just two innings of play, the Warhawks had already burst out to a 5-0 lead.

Sam Paden had the lone hit in the third, as Messiah's defense was able to put a zero on the scoreboard for UW-Whitewater. However, Hansen kept moving through the order, pitching his 9th straight out of the game.

In the fourth inning, the Warhawks pushed the lead to double digits, benefitting from a couple of bases loaded walks, as well as a bases loaded hit-by-pitch and bases loaded wild pitch. Darryl Jackson cleared the bags with a two-RBI single to cap off the inning. 

Cade Hansen dealt his fourth straight 1-2-3 inning on a couple of groundouts and a strikeout.

In the fifth inning, Matt Scolan belted a solo home run to left field, putting the Warhawks up 12-0. The Scolan homer kickstarted five straight hits for UW-Whitewater. Adam Cootway connected on a triple, with Andy Thies, Eli Frank, and Danny Hopper all passing the bat to the next guy in the order. Jackson finished the inning with an RBI fielders choice, putting the lead at 16.

Hansen's no-hitter came to a close in the bottom of the fifth, as the Falcons marked their first base knock on the righty. Hansen got out of the inning quickly though, forcing a double play to end the inning.

In the sixth, the Warhawks hit back-to-back home runs. Matt Scolan connected on his second of the game, hitting a huge career milestone. With the homer, Scolan tallied his 300th hit wearing the Warhawk uniform. Adam Cootway followed suit with his own home run, putting the Warhawks one run away from the 20 mark.

In the bottom of the inning, Messiah pushed their first runs of the day across the plate. Max Huseboe came relieved Hansen during the inning, picking up the last two outs. 

The Warhawks were held off the score column in the seventh, but not the hit column, as Aaron Holland’s recorded a single to get on base. Holland's hit put him at 94 on the season, setting a program single- season record.

Adam Cootway led off the eighth, looking for a double to complete the cycle, but got on base with a walk. Danny Hopper scored him, followed by Sam Paden’s RBI single to put the Warhawks at 21 runs.

Messiah scored another two runs after a two-out double. But Jack Hagen finished the inning with a strikeout.

Logan Eisenbarth had the ball on the mound for the last three outs. After two fly outs to Matt Scolan in left, a foul pop-up to the first base side was caught by Eli Frank in front of the Messiah dugout. As Frank dropped to his knees as the dogpile ensued.

Adam Cootway was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He finished the week with a .615 batting average (16-for-26) and 1.963 OPS. Cootway was responsible 22 Warhawk runs (10 RBIs and 12 runs scored), while hitting four home runs in the process.

Joining Cootway on the All-Tournament Team was Eli Frank, Andy Thies, Danny Hopper, Sam Paden, Matt Scolan, Cade Hansen and Ben Lee.
 
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