Pointers Fight Off Another Elimination to Reach World Series

Box Score

     Facing elimination for the ninth time in the past week, the UW-Stevens Point baseball team pulled out another incredible rally through the loser�s bracket on Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids� Witter Field, defeating Ripon twice on the final day of the NCAA Division III regional to advance to next week�s World Series in Appleton.

     The Pointers hung on for a 7-4 win in the opener and then used a two-run homer from Chuck Brehm in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game for a 6-4 win. UW-Stevens Point is now 34-16 and makes its second trip to the World Series, having also appeared in 1997. The Pointers will take on Marietta (Ohio) in the opening round on Friday at 7:45 p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium.

     Top-seeded Ripon ended its year 34-7 and won 30 of its last 34 games with all four losses coming to UW-Stevens Point, which also swept the Red Hawks in a regular season doubleheader on April 25.

     The Pointers lost their opening game of the regional and then won five straight games, including two victories on both Friday and Saturday. The run came on the heels of last weekend when the team won four straight games after an opening round loss in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on the same field.

     �I�d like to know another team in the country that�s done what we�ve done,� UW-Stevens Point coach Pat Bloom said. �We�ve got great kids with great character and great resolve.�

     �When our back�s against the wall, we just bear down and find a way to get it done,� Brehm said. �We all have so much confidence in ourselves and each other that we know we can get it done.�

     Pointers� pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw a complete game in the second victory, matching a single-game school record with 15 strikeouts. The sophomore allowed just five hits and four runs on two days rest, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He had 13 strikeouts in the team�s opening round loss to St. Scholastica on Wednesday. In fact, the record strikeout total marked the third time in the last 19 games that a UW-Stevens Point pitcher had 15 strikeouts.

     �I was planning on getting it started and going as long as I could,� said Zimmermann, who totaled 25 and two-thirds innings over the last eight days. �In about the seventh or eighth, adrenaline just took over.�

     Brehm, who was three-for-20 in the tournament entering the second game, hit two home runs and finished three-for-four to lead the Pointers.

     In fact, all of the game�s runs were scored on home runs as catcher Eric Schwendimann provided all of Ripon�s offense with a solo home run in the second inning and a three-run shot that put the Red Hawks ahead 4-2 in the sixth. UW-Stevens Point got solo homers from Adam Evanoff in the second and Brehm in the fourth. Brandon Scheidler then tied the game in the seventh with a two-run blast to centerfield.

     The Pointers missed a golden chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Jake Frombach doubled after Scheidler�s homer and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt with nobody out. However, Red Hawks� pitcher Andy Kemped used two groundouts and a fly ball to escape the jam.

     In the eighth, Evanoff was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Brehm pulled back a bunt attempt on the first pitch and Schwendimann attempted to pick off Evanoff at first base. The throw sailed into right field, allowing Evanoff to reach second. Brehm then opted to swing away and drilled a long home run over the scoreboard in right-center field for the game-winner.

     The win came in the Pointers� second straight trip to the regional final and third in five years. Ripon made its second regional final appearance, falling short of the World Series in the 2001 final.