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Pointers Fight Off
Elimination to Reach World Series
Facing elimination for the ninth time in
the past week, the UW-Stevens Point baseball team pulled out another
incredible rally through the loser�s bracket on Saturday at Wisconsin
Rapids� Witter Field, defeating Ripon twice on the final day of the NCAA
Division III regional to advance to next week�s World Series in Appleton.
The Pointers hung on for a 7-4 win in the opener
and then used a two-run homer from Chuck Brehm in the bottom of the eighth
inning of the second game for a 6-4 win. UW-Stevens Point is now 34-16 and
makes its second trip to the World Series, having also appeared in 1997. The
Pointers will take on Marietta (Ohio) in the opening round on Friday at 7:45
p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium.
Top-seeded Ripon ended its year 34-7 and won 30 of
its last 34 games with all four losses coming to UW-Stevens Point, which
also swept the Red Hawks in a regular season doubleheader on April 25.
The Pointers lost their opening game of the
regional and then won five straight games, including two victories on both
Friday and Saturday. The run came on the heels of last weekend when the team
won four straight games after an opening round loss in the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on the same field.
�I�d like to know another team in the country
that�s done what we�ve done,� UW-Stevens Point coach Pat Bloom said. �We�ve
got great kids with great character and great resolve.�
�When our back�s against the wall, we just bear
down and find a way to get it done,� Brehm said. �We all have so much
confidence in ourselves and each other that we know we can get it done.�
Pointers� pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw a
complete game in the second victory, matching a single-game school record
with 15 strikeouts. The sophomore allowed just five hits and four runs on
two days rest, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He had 13
strikeouts in the team�s opening round loss to St. Scholastica on Wednesday.
In fact, the record strikeout total marked the third time in the last 19
games that a UW-Stevens Point pitcher had 15 strikeouts.
�I was planning on getting it started and going as
long as I could,� said Zimmermann, who totaled 25 and two-thirds innings
over the last eight days. �In about the seventh or eighth, adrenaline just
took over.�
Brehm, who was three-for-20 in the tournament
entering the second game, hit two home runs and finished three-for-four to
lead the Pointers.
In fact, all of the game�s runs were scored on
home runs as catcher Eric Schwendimann provided all of Ripon�s offense with
a solo home run in the second inning and a three-run shot that put the Red
Hawks ahead 4-2 in the sixth. UW-Stevens Point got solo homers from Adam
Evanoff in the second and Brehm in the fourth. Brandon Scheidler then tied
the game in the seventh with a two-run blast to centerfield.
The Pointers missed a golden chance to take the
lead in the bottom of the seventh when Jake Frombach doubled after
Scheidler�s homer and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt with nobody
out. However, Red Hawks� pitcher Andy Kemped used two groundouts and a fly
ball to escape the jam.
In the eighth, Evanoff was hit by a pitch to open
the inning. Brehm pulled back a bunt attempt on the first pitch and
Schwendimann attempted to pick off Evanoff at first base. The throw sailed
into right field, allowing Evanoff to reach second. Brehm then opted to
swing away and drilled a long home run over the scoreboard in right-center
field for the game-winner.
The win came in the Pointers� second straight trip
to the regional final and third in five years. Ripon made its second
regional final appearance, falling short of the World Series in the 2001
final. |
