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Pointers Win Twice
to Return to WIAC Finals
UW-Stevens Point is back in the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship game,
but not without plenty of anxious moments and missed opportunities.
The Pointers left a total of 27 runners on base in
their two games, but still managed a 5-4 first round win over UW-Whitewater
and a 7-5 second round triumph over UW-Stout. UW-Stevens Point is now 27-14
overall and will go for its third straight WIAC tournament title and
automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. at
Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids. UW-Stout and UW-Oshkosh meet at noon to
determine the Pointers� opponent. The winner will need beat the Pointers
twice for the title.
UW-Stevens Point�s Jordan Zimmermann pitched a
complete game with seven strikeouts to improve to 7-0 and drove in two runs
in the opening game. He also had the go-ahead hit in the second game as the
Pointers rallied from a 5-1 deficit.
In the opener, The Pointers scored when Ryan
Byrnes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning and when
Zimmermann scored on a double play in the fourth. UW-Whitewater trimmed the
lead to 2-1 in the sixth, but Zimmermann added a two-run single in the
seventh for a 4-1 Pointers� lead.
The Warhawks rallied with a three-run eighth as
Billy Johnson tied the game with a run-scoring double, however, Adam Evanoff
delivered a two-out solo home run in the eighth for his fourth hit of the
game to put the Pointers back ahead. UW-Whitewater had two runners reach in
the ninth, but Jeff Donovan, who homered with two outs in the ninth to beat
the Pointers in the regular season, flew out to the warning track in
centerfield to end the game.
UW-Stevens Point fell behind UW-Stout as the
Pointers left the bases loaded each of the first three innings. The Blue
Devils took a 3-1 lead in the third on a home run by Erik Johnson and went
ahead 5-1 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
The Pointers began their rally in the sixth as
Brad Archambeau had a run-scoring single and Joel Hojnacki scored on a wild
pitch. Hojnacki pulled the Pointers within 5-4 in the seventh, driving in
another run on a fielder�s choice.
UW-Stevens Point took the lead in the eighth as
Archambeau doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring when
Brandon Scheidler reached out to poke a two-strike pitch through a drawn-in
infield and tie the game. Scheidler scored when Zimmermann blasted a double
deep to right center field and a double by Stewart Larsen plated Zimmermann
with an insurance run.
The Pointers struck out 16 times in the game as
UW-Stout started Dan Olson whiffed 11 over the first five and one-third
innings.
Brandon Hemstead worked the first six innings for
the Pointers, striking out six batters and Matt Mehne earned the victory
with three scoreless innings and two hits allowed. |
