2002 WIAC Baseball Tournament Preview

      Four familiar teams converge on Stevens Point this weekend for the 2002 WIAC baseball tournament with the victor earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse have all reached the WIAC Tournament for the third consecutive year. This is the first time UW-Stevens Point has hosted the tournament since 1997.

     The tournament will be a double-elimination format and UW-Stevens Point is the defending champion, having won three games in a single day to capture last year�s crown in Whitewater.

     UW-Stevens Point enters the tournament as the top seed by virtue of winning the WIAC regular season championship with a 22-6 record. The Pointers clinched the top seed by winning three of four games at UW-Whitewater last weekend. Senior Bill Verbrick spearheads the Pointer pitching staff with an 8-1 record and a 2.33 ERA. Verbrick became the first pitcher to throw a nine-inning perfect game in a WIAC contest earlier this season against UW-River Falls. He is also UW-Stevens Point�s all-time wins and strikeouts leader. The Pointers led the conference with a .342 batting average, headed by Randy Reed and Paul Molitor�s .398 averages. Molitor leads the WIAC with 52 RBI�s and ranks second in the league with 12 home runs, while Ryan Jones was also tied for second with 12 round-trippers. The Pointers have hit a school-record 59 home runs this season.

     UW-Whitewater is the the number two seed after finishing conference play with an 18-7 mark. Sophomore first baseman/pitcher Brady Endl is a double threat for the Warhawks. On the mound, Endl has a 5-2 record and a 3.52 ERA. At the plate, he has hit a team-leading 12 home runs while sporting a .343 batting average. Randy Borgardt heads UW-Whitewater�s pitching staff with a 6-1 record and a 2.76 ERA. Joe Shere leads the Warhawks with a .368 batting average. Shere�s pitching numbers are equally impressive, striking out 45 while walking only five in 49 2/3 innings of work. The Warhawks� pitching staff led the WIAC with a 4.01 ERA this season.

     UW-La Crosse finished the WIAC regular season with an 18-10 record to earn the third seed. Senior shortstop Vinny Rottino has rewritten the Eagles� records book this season. He led the conference with a .417 batting average and 14 home runs. Rottino has broken school single-season records with 75 hits, 53 runs, 17 doubles and 14 home runs and is the school�s career record holder in each of those categories. Chester Janke�s 49 RBI�s rank third in the WIAC. Eric Grube leads the UW-La Crosse pitching staff with six victories, while Kyle Kaufman leads the starters with a 3.77 ERA. Chris Schwarz led the WIAC with seven saves this season while posting a 3.32 ERA.

     UW-Oshkosh was in the unusual position of battling just to make the WIAC Tournament, but earned the number four seed on the final day of the regular season and finished 12-15 in conference play. The Titans have reached the conference tournament or conference championship series every year since 1980. Catcher Ben Stanley finished tied for second in the WIAC with a .400 batting average while recording a team-leading 11 home runs, 15 doubles and 39 RBI�s. Stanley hit seven home runs in one week earlier this season and joins Verbrick as one of two WIAC players who earned National Player of the Week accolades this season. The Titans opened the season 9-1, but closed the season with a 4-12-1 record over their last 17 games.