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Pointers Fall at
WIAC Tourney and Begin Waiting
It will be a long Sunday for the UW-Stevens
Point softball team as the Pointers are forced to wait to see if their
32-8 record will be good enough for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division
III tournament.
The Pointers split a pair of games on Saturday
at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament in Eau
Claire to complete their season resume for the selection committee. The
committee will choose 17 at-large teams nationwide and announce the
pairings on Monday morning. UW-Eau Claire won the league�s automatic
berth, beating UW-Oshkosh 3-2 in nine innings in the finals.
UW-Stevens Point opened the day by winning a
12-7 slugfest over UW-Whitewater and then saw UW-Oshkosh take advantage
of just two hits to pull out a 3-1 victory in the second game. The
Pointers needed to win five straight games to win the double elimination
tournament after losing on Friday. UW-Oshkosh played five games during
the day and was on the field for 10 and a half hours before placing
second.
Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, the
Pointers scored 10 runs in the third inning of the opening game, getting
10 hits in the frame. Chelsea McIlquham had a two-run double and Jackie
Berger had a two-run single for UW-Stevens Point�s biggest hits. Six of
the Pointers� hits came after two outs in the inning.
UW-Whitewater battled back with two runs in
the fourth and two more in the fifth to close within 10-6. Mandy Jellish
added a run-scoring double to put the Pointers up 11-6 in the bottom of
the fifth and, after the Warhawks scored in the top of the sixth, Korryn
Brooks homered for the fifth straight game in the bottom of the inning
to make it 12-7. Hope Krause allowed a leadoff single in the seventh
before retiring the final three batters for her first career save.
Krause pitched the final three innings in relief of winning pitcher
Stephanie Anderson.
Both teams had 13 hits with Jellish leading
the Pointers at three-for-four. Berger was two-for-three with three
RBI�s, while Brooks and McIlquham also had two hits apiece.
Against UW-Oshkosh, the Pointers jumped out
quickly as Jellish doubled and Berger singled to open the game. Laura
Van Abel followed with a sacrifice fly for what proved to be the
Pointers� lone run.
UW-Oshkosh converted both of its hits into
three runs in the third inning. With a runner on base and two outs, the
Titans kept their inning alive with a two-out error. Jennelle Schmidt
drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game and Lyndsey Allen drilled a
two-run single.
The Pointers had runners at second and third
with one out in the sixth and had two runners on base in the seventh,
but failed to score. Anderson struck out four in the complete game and
Titans� pitcher Ronnessa Stampfli struck out 11 in a five-hitter. Van
Abel was two-for-two to lead the Pointers� offense. |
