AJ
Austin Jones
  • finance
  • Class of 2018
  • Milwaukee, Wisc.

Milwaukee's Jones Named All-Conference for UW-Whitewater Baseball

2018 May 18

Austin Jones, a native of Milwaukee, WI, and graduate of Wauwatosa West High School, is one of eight members of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team who were named first team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as the league announced its 2018 awards.

The Warhawks swept the league's three major awards as senior centerfielder Daytona Bryden (Rockton, IL/Hononegah) was selected WIAC Position Player of the Year, junior Michael Kaska (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) earned WIAC Pitcher of the Year honors and head coach John Vodenlich garnered WIAC Coach of the Year accolades for a league-record ninth time in his career.

Bryden and Kaska were joined on the first team by senior pitchers Austin Jones (Wauwatosa, Wis./West)and Heath Renz (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson), junior catcher Mike Aiello (Racine, Wis./Horlick), junior infielder/designated hitter Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), junior shortstop Nick Schrader(Cambridge, Wis./Jefferson) and sophomore outfielder Alex Doud (Waukesha, Wis./Mukwonago).

All eight players helped UW-Whitewater win its fifth WIAC regular season championship in the last six years and reach the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 11th straight season.

Bryden leads the conference in batting average (.510), slugging percentage (.905), on-base percentage (.575), runs (70), hits (75), triples (9) and total bases (133). He currently leads the nation in runs, runs per game, triples and total bases, and is among the top 10 in the country in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits and triples per game.

Kaska leads the league with a 1.33 earned run average and is tied for first in wins with a 9-1 record. He is holding opponents to a team-best .222 batting average in 61 innings with 53 strikeouts and was named WIAC Pitcher of the Week three times during the 2018 campaign.

Jones, a two-time first team selection and three-time All-WIAC pitcher overall, ranks second in the league with 76 strike outs in 59 2/3 innings pitched, and enters the postseason with a 7-2 record and a 3.02 ERA while holding opponents to a .237 batting average.

Renz ranks sixth in the conference with a 2.47 ERA and owns a 5-2 record in 51 innings. The two-year first team All-WIAC pick ranks among league leaders in opposing batting average (.228) and strikeouts (63), and allowed only four extra base hits during the regular season.

Aiello is batting .326 with nine doubles, three home runs, 29 runs scored and 31 RBI, including 25 against conference opponents. He leads the conference with 319 putouts from behind the plate.

Aldridge, who is now a three-time first team honoree, ranks among the top three in the league in batting average (.434), slugging percentage (.868), on-base percentage (.491), runs (49), runs batted in (47), doubles (18) and total bases (118). He owns 59 hits for the season, including a conference-leading 13 home runs. He ranks among national leaders (top 20) in homers, slugging percentage, total bases and runs per game.

Schrader is batting .341 with eight doubles, three triples, 27 runs scored and 31 RBI. He ranks eighth in the WIAC in on-base percentage (.432) and leads the team with 85 fielding assists.

Doud is tied for fifth in the WIAC with six homers and is ninth with 35 RBI. In conference games only, he ranks fourth in the league in batting average (.416), on-base percentage (.472) and slugging percentage (.636).

Senior infielder Jeff Szubert (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) was named the team's representative on the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.