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Six-Run Innings
Prove Key to Split With Titans
A pair of six-run innings proved decisive in each
game as UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader on Sunday in Stevens Point.
The Pointers put up six runs in the eighth inning
of the opening game to pull away for a 9-3 victory, while UW-Oshkosh scored
six times in the fourth inning of the second game and held on for a 14-11
win.
The opening game was tied entering the bottom of
the eighth when the Pointers loaded the bases with one out and Stewart
Larsen singled to break the tie. Titans� pitcher Adam Roos then attempted to
pick off Larsen at first base and threw the ball down the right field line,
allowing two runs to score. Joel Hojnacki followed with a run-scoring single
and Brad Archambeau delivered a two-run single to finish the inning.
Each team scored single runs in the fifth and
sixth inning and each had leadoff homers in the sixth as Jason Fosler
homered for the Titans and Adam Evanoff tied the game at 3-3 the Pointers.
Brandon Hemstead worked eight innings and struck
out seven to improve to 4-0 for the Pointers, who belted out 14 hits.
The Titans put five of their six runs on the board
over the span of three pitches with three consecutive extra base hits off
Pointers� starter Travis Kempf. After scoring on an errant throw after a
bunt, the Titans got a two-run double by Cory Hastings, a run-scoring triple
by Pete Berg and a two-run homer by Bryan Schwebke for a 9-1 lead.
The Pointers rallied with a three-run fifth inning
as Jordan Zimmermann beat out a slow grounder with two outs and nobody on
base. Brandon Scheidler later had a run-scoring single and Tim Schlosser had
a two-run double to cut the lead to 9-5.
UW-Oshkosh scored on a two-out, run-scoring single
by Mickey Fadness in the top of the eighth and the Pointers answered with
home runs on back-to-back pitches by Scheidler and Schlosser to open the
bottom of the inning. Brian Gerl, who pitched six innings on Saturday,
entered the game in the eighth and allowed four runs in the ninth, but still
set a WIAC single-season record with his ninth save. The Titans scored four
runs after two outs in the top of the ninth, which proved essential after
the Pointers� Jordan Zimmermann hit a solo homer and Schlosser hit a
three-run blast in the bottom of the inning.
Schlosser had a huge second game for the Pointers
at four-for-five with three home runs and seven RBI�s. Zimmermann was
three-for-five, while Berg led the Titans at four-for-five. UW-Oshkosh
pounded out 18 hits and the Pointers had 16 hits in the second game.
UW-Stevens Point is now 21-14 overall and 12-6 in
the WIAC, while UW-Oshkosh, which clinched the WIAC title on Saturday, is
now 26-8 overall and 20-4 in the league. |
