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Early Start Helps
Pointers Take One From Pioneers
An early start time proved to be a wise move for
the UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville baseball teams as they were able to
play one game of Sunday�s scheduled doubleheader before the rains became too
much and forced cancellation of the second game.
Originally scheduled for noon, the teams pushed
the game up two hours and needed every extra minute for their three-hour and
10 minute marathon won 15-5 by the Pointers that included 21 hits, 10 errors
and 12 walks. The game still ended early as the Pointers scored five runs in
the bottom of the eighth inning to win by the 10-run rule, but the final two
innings were played in a steady rain that made the field unplayable for the
second game. With rain forecasted throughout the remainder of the day and
Monday, the second game has been cancelled and will not be made up.
UW-Stevens Point took advantage of two Pioneers�
errors in the first inning and scored four unearned runs capped by a two-run
single by sophomore Brian Stoneberg, who made his first career start. In
fact, 10 of the Pointers' 15 runs were unearned after seven Pioneers'
errors.
The Pointers went ahead 6-1 after the second
inning as Chuck Brehm and Jake Frombach each had run-scoring singles, but
UW-Platteville battled back to cut the lead to 6-5.
Pioneers� pitcher Kyle Brudos came out of the
bullpen to retire his first 11 batters faced and hold the Pointers scoreless
over the next three innings. Meanwhile, UW-Platteville�s offense added three
runs in the third and scored another in the top of the sixth off Pointers�
starter Travis Kempf. Brandon Hemstead entered the game with runners at
first and third and two outs in the sixth and recorded a strikeout to
preserve the one-run lead.
The Pointers scored an unearned run in the bottom
of the sixth and Stoneberg hit a two-run homer in the seventh for a 9-5
lead. Frombach made it 10-5 with a run-scoring single and then capped the
game with a two-run single in the eighth to give the Pointers the 10-run
margin.
Kempf earned his first win for the Pointers, who
are now 7-5 overall and 3-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference. Hemstead allowed no hits or runs over two and one-third innings
for his first career save. |