|
Complete Game
Victories Jumpstart Spring Trip
A pair of complete game pitching performances led
the UW-Stevens Point baseball team to a season-opening doubleheader sweep of
Western Connecticut State by scores of 4-2 and 6-2 on Saturday in Port
Charlotte, Fla.
Brandon Hemstead scattered nine hits and struck
out four in the opener, while Jeff Zielke retired 16 of the last 17 batters
faced and finished with 10 strikeouts in his collegiate debut.
The Pointers got three unearned runs in the third
inning of the opening game to break a 1-1 tie. Chuck Brehm delivered a
one-out, run-scoring single and Ryan Byrnes followed with a two-run single
with two outs in the inning to push the lead to 4-1. Nat Richter was
two-for-four with a double as the only UW-Stevens Point player with multiple
hits.
Western Connecticut State got runs in each of the
first two innings of the second game, but Zielke shut the Colonials down
from that point. They had a leadoff single in the sixth that was erased on a
double play as Zielke faced the minimum in each of the final five innings.
The game was tied 2-2 in the fifth when the
Pointers again took advantage of Western Connecticut State errors with two
unearned runs. Byrnes had a sacrifice fly to put the Pointers ahead and
Brehm scored later in the inning on another error. The Colonials had four
errors in the game and two in the inning. Stewart Larsen led UW-Stevens
Point at the plate with a two-for-three effort. |
