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Pointers Heat Up
Offensively to Sweep Warhawks
After a slow start on a cold day, UW-Stevens
Point�s bats heated up in a big way as the Pointers posted a pair of
high-scoring baseball victories with 12-6 and 16-5 victories over
UW-Whitewater on Monday at University Field.
With temperatures hovering below 40 degrees, the
Pointers did little offensively in the first four innings of the opening
game, but then scored runs in 10 of their last 11 innings of the day.
UW-Stevens Point is now 11-6 overall and 5-0 in the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the four-time defending league
champion Warhawks fell to 7-7 overall and 0-2 in the league.
UW-Whitewater had several clutch hits in the early
frames of the opening game, getting four runs on two-out hits, including a
two-run double by Thomas Corcoran and a run-scoring single by Kevin Zalnis
in a three-run third inning off Pointers� ace Jordan Zimmermann.
UW-Stevens Point came to life trailing 5-1 in the
bottom of the fifth, getting four straight hits capped by a two-run double
by Brandon Scheidler that tied the game. The Pointers took the lead the
following inning when Ryan Byrnes drilled a three-run homer down the left
field line for an 8-5 advantage.
Justin Bushong and Adam Evanoff added sacrifice
flies and Tim Schlosser had a two-run double that gave the Pointers a
comfortable margin for reliever Jeff Zielke, who allowed no earned runs over
three innings for the save. Scheidler led the Pointers at three-for-five,
while Corcoran was four-for-five for the Warhawks.
A big first inning keyed the Pointers in the
second game as they scored five runs on two hits. Stewart Larsen highlighted
the frame with a two-run double in his first at bat after missing the
previous seven games with an injury.
Larsen also recorded the game�s biggest hit in the fourth
inning, lining a two-out, three-run double to right center field for a 10-1
cushion. Larsen finished three-for-five with five RBI�s, while Evanoff was
four-for-five with three RBI�s. It was plenty of runs for starter Travis
Kempf, who limited the Warhawks to just three hits and one earned run over
six innings.
UW-Whitewater scored three runs in the seventh,
but it was not enough to avoid the 10-run rule, which ended the game after
seven innings.
The teams will play another doubleheader on
Tuesday at 1 p.m. at University Field. |
