WIAC Baseball Tournament Takes Place This Weekend in Stevens Point

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     For the first time since 1997, Stevens Point will host the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament after UW-Stevens Point�s weekend victories at UW-Whitewater that clinched the league�s regular season championship.

The top-seeded Pointers have appeared the tournament�s championship game five straight years and won last year�s tournament by winning three nine-inning games on the final day, including two wins over this year�s first round opponent UW-Oshkosh.

The Pointers and Titans will square off Friday at noon at University Field, while second-seeded UW-Whitewater takes on third-seeded UW-La Crosse at the same time at Bukolt Park. The first round winners meet at 3 p.m. at University Field, while the first round losers play at 3 p.m. at Bukolt Park. The title game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at University Field.

The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament, while the three other teams that lose twice this weekend will be forced to wait for one of five at-large bids to the 42-team field.

UW-Stevens Point brings a 31-8 overall record in the tournament, having tied the school record for victories in a season. The success comes despite losing six starters from last season�s tournament championship team. Senior centerfielder Randy Reed is the only returning starter in the same position as last year. Senior Paul Molitor starts at third base after serving as designated hitter last year and senior Ryan Ivy has moved from leftfield to rightfield.

Reed and Molitor lead the Pointers and are ranked second in the conference with .398 batting averages. Both players have already eclipsed the school�s single-season record for total bases and Molitor and Ryan Jones already have a school-record tying 12 home runs. Reed needs five games played and 13 at-bats to set school career records in both categories.

Senior Bill Verbrick is the school�s all-time leader in strikeouts and wins and is looking to tie the school�s single-season record of nine wins in a season. Verbrick has an 8-1 record and 2.33 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 14 walks in 77 1/3 innings pitched.

The Pointers have won three of the four meetings this season with UW-Oshkosh and nine of the last 13 matchups between the two schools.