Pointers Beat UW-Whitewater to Claim WIAC Title and Tourney Host

    Josh Blaha worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and stranded two UW-Whitewater runners in the ninth inning as the UW-Stevens Point baseball team pulled out a dramatic 8-7 win in the second game of a doubleheader to claim its third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in four years.

The Pointers, who lost the opening game 9-8 to the host Warhawks, finished 22-6 in the league and will host the WIAC tournament next weekend with an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament at stake. UW-Stevens Point, which is 29-8 overall, plays fourth seed UW-Oshkosh in the first game Friday at noon at University Field, while second seed UW-Whitewater takes on third seed UW-La Crosse at the same time at Bukolt Park.

UW-Stevens Point needed a split of the doubleheader for the title and was two outs away from capturing the crown in game one, but the Warhawks Joseph Ecker hit a three-run homer in the ninth as UW-Whitewater scored four runs in the final inning for the victory.

The Pointers fell behind 4-0 in the second game, but regrouped quickly, scoring five runs in the third as Matt Peetz drilled a three-run homer for a 5-4 advantage. After the Warhawks tied the game in the top of the fourth, UW-Stevens Point scored three times in the bottom of the inning with Randy Reed, Ryan Jones and Peetz all collecting run-scoring doubles.

Kevin Pankow relieved Pointer starter Matt Standifer in the fourth and scattered just three hits until the eighth when the Warhawks opened with two hits and a walk. After Blaha relieved Pankow, the next two batters both reached on errors as the Warhawks cut the lead to 8-7 and still had the bases loaded with no outs.

However, Blaha struck out Brady Endl swinging on a 3-2 curveball and then fired an outside fastball to strikeout Josh Hearn on three pitches. Dan Gnatzig then lined a ball to Pointer leftfielder Kevin Fry to end the threat.

In the ninth, Blaha retired the first two batters, but Travis Van Zile singled and Ecker walked before Blaha forced Joe Shere into a fly ball to right field to earn his first career save. Pankow picked up the victory for the Pointers.

In the opening game, the Pointers trailed 5-1 in the sixth, but scored two unearned runs to cut the lead to 5-3 and Matt Peterson hit a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh for a 7-5 lead.

Bill Verbrick worked 8 1/3 innings and left with an 8-6 lead before Jared Szews entered with two runners on base and allowed the home run to Ecker to suffer the loss.

Peetz was three-for-five with four RBI�s in the second game, while Reed was five-for-10 for the day with three doubles.

UW-Stevens Point, which won last year�s conference tournament, last hosted the event in 1997. The Pointers have appeared in the tournament title game the past five seasons.