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Nix Pitches
Pointers Into Regional Title Game
Sophomore Garrett Nix matched a career high with
nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits over eight innings to pitch
UW-Stevens Point into the NCAA Division III regional championship game with
a 6-3 win over St. Thomas on Friday in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.
Nix struck out his nine batters in seven different
innings and allowed one run, which was unearned. The victory was the
Pointers� third in as many meetings against St. Thomas this seasin and
marked their fourth straight NCAA tournament victory over the Tommies. St.
Thomas is now 34-11 and plays UW-Oshkosh at noon on Saturday with the winner
to play UW-Stevens Point for the regional title at 3:30 p.m. The Pointers
are 31-15 overall and in the regional finals for the fourth time in six
years.
The Pointers, who scored five runs in the bottom
of the ninth to pull out a dramatic 11-10 win over Ripon earlier in the day,
carried their momentum into the top of the first inning against St. Thomas
as Brad Archambeau led off with a walk and Tim Schlosser doubled. Both
scored on groundouts as the Pointers took an early 2-0 lead.
UW-Stevens Point added single runs in each of the
next three innings as Justin Bushong had a run-scoring double in the second,
Jordan Zimmermann led off the third with a home run and Schlosser scored on
a two-out throwing error in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Nix retired the first seven batters
faced and ran into trouble in only one inning when the Tommies tallied an
unearned run in the fifth. After a two-out error put two runners on base,
Nix hit batters on consecutive pitches with Matt Olson driving in a run. He
then struck out Chris Bullis looking with an inside fastball on a 3-2 pitch
to escape the jam.
Tommies� reliever Will Montgomery shut down the
Pointers the rest of the way, allowing just four hits and one earned run
over seven innings in relief of Lonnie Robinson. Brad Archambeau, who
finished two-for-five, drove in a run for the Pointers with a single in the
eighth to give UW-Stevens Point a 6-1 lead.
St. Thomas mounted a rally against Pointers�
closer Matt Mehne in the ninth, getting singles from Tom Wippler and Mark
Boland to start the inning. Pinch-hitter Bobby Gregoire had a run-scoring
single and another run scored following a two-out error to bring the tying
run to the plate, but Mehne retired Bullis on a groundout to end the game.
Zimmermann was two-for-five for the Pointers, who
totaled eight hits. Wippler was two-for-four for the Tommies. |
