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Rutta Named WIAC Softball Co-Player of the Year UW-Stevens Point junior Kelly Rutta has been named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball East Division co-Player of the Year. Rutta, a Stevens Point native and Pacelli High School graduate, was one of five Pointers named to the first team as UW-Stevens Point finished 27-13-1 overall after falling in the conference championship game 1-0 to UW-Eau Claire Saturday. She shared the award with UW-Platteville shortstop Becky Albrecht. UW-Eau Claire catcher Lisa Schueler was the West Division Player of the Year. Rutta was joined by junior Sarah Berg (Stillwater, Minn.), junior Cari Briley (Creston, Iowa), senior Michelle Gerber (Kenosha, Wis.) and freshman Karen Guckenberger (South Milwaukee, Wis.) on the East Division first team. Berg, Briley and Gerber were all named to the team for the second straight year. The five selections were the most of any WIAC school. Rutta hit .361 for the season and set a single-season school record with 11 stolen bases. She led the team with 33 runs scored, five home runs and 78 total bases. Rutta also posted a .968 fielding percentage and started every game this season at second base. Berg hit .310 with a team-high 34 RBI’s while starting all 41 games and committing no errors in centerfield for the Pointers. She struck out just three times all season in 139 plate appearances. Briley led the Pointers in hitting with a .368 batting average and 50 hits. She had 19 RBI’s and 10 stolen bases while starting every game in rightfield. Gerber had just two errors all season while starting 40 of the 41 games at catcher. She hit .352 with 26 RBI’s and had 12 doubles to finish the season with a UW-Stevens Point career record of 34 doubles. Guckenberger had one of the most outstanding debuts of any freshman pitcher in NCAA history with a 12-0 record and 33 consecutive scoreless innings to open the season. She finished the year with a 17-3 record and 1.28 ERA. She had 114 strikeouts, which is the second-highest single-season total in Pointer history, along with just 17 walks in 136 2/3 innings pitched.
Baseball Team Faces UW-Oshkosh in WIAC Tournament Opener UW-Stevens Point has defeated UW-Oshkosh four straight times, but the Pointers will need to make it a fifth to claim their second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament title and earn a possible fourth straight NCAA Division III tournament berth. After opening the WIAC season 0-4, the Pointers have reeled off 10 straight WIAC wins to earn the No. 2 seed for this weekend’s conference tournament Saturday in Whitewater. The Warhawks are the top seed and will take on fourth-seeded UW-La Crosse in the first game at 10 a.m., while the Pointers meet third-seeded UW-Oshkosh at 1 p.m. The title game is set for 4 p.m. Complicating matters is that the conference’s NCAA automatic berth is determined by wins in the regular season and tournament combined. UW-Whitewater has 11 wins, while UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point have 10 and UW-La Crosse has nine. In order for UW-Stevens Point to claim the automatic berth, the Pointers need to win both games and have UW-La Crosse beat UW-Whitewater in the other semifinal. Even if the Pointers defeated UW-Whitewater in the title game and the Warhawks received the automatic bid, UW-Stevens Point would still have a chance at an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, though only five are awarded in the entire country to the 42-team field. UW-Stevens Point is currently 27-10 overall and beat UW-Oshkosh 17-14 and 6-3 in a doubleheader on April 29 in Stevens Point. |
Pointer Sports Notes - 5/8/00