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Pointers Fall One
Game Short of World Series in Loss to UW-Whitewater
UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater have seen
plenty of each other on the baseball diamond over the last 17 days and it
was the Warhawks who claimed the ninth and final encounter and a trip to the
NCAA Division III World Series with a 7-3 win in Sunday�s regional final in
Whitewater.
UW-Stevens Point won five of the nine matchups,
but was unable to solve Warhawks� ace pitchers Greg Reinhard and Kevin
Tomasiewicz in the final showdown. Overall, the two teams combined for a
70-9 record in games against other opponents as the Pointers ended their
year with a 38-11 mark and UW-Whitewater takes a 41-7 record to Appleton.
It is the Warhawks� second straight trip to the
World Series and third overall. UW-Stevens Point was playing in its third
regional final game since 1997 and aimed for its second trip to the finals.
UW-Whitewater jumped on top early when Aaron Soto
doubled and moved to third on an outfield error before scoring on a single
by Jeff Newcomer. With two outs in the inning, co-tournament MVP Dan Gnatzig
hit a bizarre three-run homer that bounced out of the glove of Pointers�
centerfielder Joel Hojnacki and over the outfield wall for a 4-0 advantage.
The Warhawks build the lead to 7-0 with a
three-run fourth as Eric Baldwin hit a sacrifice fly and Aaron Guilbault
followed with a two-run homer to left field.
Meanwhile, Reinhard cruised through the first four
innings, allowing just one hit. The Pointers threatened in the fifth,
loading the bases with two outs when Reinhard struck out Tim Schlosser on a
3-2 pitch to end the rally. In the top of the sixth, the Pointers finally
got to Reinhard, scoring all three runs on back-to-back pitches. Matt
Polomis ripped a run-scoring double and Nat Richter followed with a two-run
homer.
The Pointers appeared to have momentum heading
into the final innings when Kevin Pankow came on in relief in the bottom of
the sixth and forced Soto to line into a double play with the bases loaded.
However, Reinhard struck out the side in the seventh and Tomasiewicz came on
in the eighth to retire six of seven batters faced. Reinhard finished the
day with eight strikeouts in seven innings despite throwing on short rest.
The junior, who shared tournament MVP honors, threw 13 1/3 innings in the
tournament and 25 1/3 innings over the past eight days.
Soto was three-for-four to lead the Warhawks,
while Richter finished two-for-four for the Pointers. Freshman Mike Rickert
took the loss for the Pointers after starting a championship game against
the Warhawks for the third straight weekend, getting the ball in the WIAC
regular season and tournament championship games as well.
The Pointers landed five players on the
all-tournament team as Polomis, Schlosser, Wiczek, Jake Frombach and Ryan
Jones were all honored. |
