UW-Stevens Point used a 20-hit attack to capture the first game and an outstanding pitching effort from Bill Verbrick in the second game to sweep a doubleheader from UW-Oshkosh Saturday at University Field.

The Pointers won the opening game 17-14 and then took a 6-3 victory in the nightcap to sweep the Titans, who are ranked third in the NCAA Division III. It marked UW-Stevens Point’s fourth straight victory over UW-Oshkosh.

"This is obviously a huge sweep for us," Pointers’ coach Brian Nelson said. "Our guys were 0-4 in the conference, but they haven’t given up."

The Pointers, who have just one senior and are now 6-4 in the league, proved their never-say-die attitude in the first game.

In the opener, the teams combined for 37 hits and the Titans had seven errors. UW-Stevens Point opened up a 7-0 lead after three innings and starting pitcher Justin Duerkop hadn’t allowed a hit until the Titans struck for 12 runs in the fourth as the first 10 batters reached base.

UW-Stevens Point slowly climbed back into the game, scoring runs in each of the first seven innings. Freshman pitcher Jared Szews also held the Titans scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Meanwhile, the Pointers trailed 13-10 in the seventh, but struck for seven runs to take a 17-13 lead. Jon Jagler hit a two-run single to make it 14-13 and, three batters later, Pat McCann hit his second home run of the game for a 17-13 lead.

"I told these guys after the 12-run inning that there would be plenty of more runs scored today," Nelson said. "I’m very happy of the way our guys stayed patient at the plate and of the job Jared Szews did of settling things down in relief."

Szews allowed a solo homer to Brian Horn in the ninth, but David Busse recorded the final two outs and stranded two Titans’ runners in the ninth for the save. Szews, a Birnamwood native, improved to 3-0 for the season.

Verbrick, a sophomore from Appleton Xavier, allowed just six hits in a complete game victory in the second game. He was spotted an early 5-0 lead as the Pointers scored two runs in the second on a throwing error and a run-scoring single by Mike McCann.

Sam Molski added a two-run double in the third and Kevin Fry followed with an RBI groundout to give UW-Stevens Point the 5-0 advantage.

The Titans scored single runs in the fourth and fifth, but Verbrick stranded the bases loaded in the fifth when he forced Tom Gessner, who ranks ninth in the country in batting, into a pop-up to end the inning.

All nine Pointers had hits in the second game and eight different players had hits in the opener as UW-Stevens Point pounded out 31 hits in the two games.

"Coaches always say wins are a team effort, but this truly was today," Nelson said. "Up and down our lineup everybody was hitting the ball. It was just a fun day all around."