Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

LA CROSSE – Instead of playing at home, the 17th-ranked UW-Stevens Point baseball team had to travel to UW-La Crosse for its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener today where it lost game one 9-6, but bounced back to win game two 8-3 and earn the split.

The Pointers were scheduled to open their conference season at home, but due to unplayable playing conditions at University Field the first doubleheader was moved to North Campus Field in La Crosse. Tomorrow's doubleheader has been postponed to Wednesday in Stevens Point.

Stevens Point, who is ranked 17th in the most recent D3baseball.com poll, fell behind by two runs early in game one as the Eagles got a two-out, two-RBI double in the top of the first. The Pointers cut that lead in half in the bottom of the second as Brad Frank (Slinger/Slinger) (Sr.-Slinger) hit a solo home run to left center to extend his team lead to four home runs.

However the Eagles got four runs in the top of the fourth as they got a two-run home run and then a Stevens Point error prolonged the inning to allow two more runs to score and make it 6-1 La Crosse. Stevens Point got all four runs back in the bottom half of the inning as Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) (Fr.-Kimberly) hit a three-run home run and Sam Spurney (Manitowoc/Manitowoc Lincoln) (So.-Manitowoc/Lutheran) hit a RBI double to drive in Frank and make the score 6-5.

La Crosse again responded with three runs in the top of the fourth on a RBI double and a two-RBI single to extend its lead to 9-5. Doug Coe (Appleton/North) (Sr.-Appleton/North) led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and later scored in the inning on a fielding error to make it 9-6. The Pointers stranded runners at second and third in the inning. The Stevens Point offense stayed quiet until the bottom of the ninth as it got the first two batters on base by way of the walk, but then had three straight fly outs to end the game.

Garrett Nix (Osseo/Osseo-Fairchild) (Jr.-Osseo/Osseo-Fairchild) (2-2) received the loss on the mound for the Pointers. The Stevens Point bullpen kept the Pointers in the game as Joel Delorit (Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door) (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door) and Mitch Kouba (Maribel/Denmark) (Fr.-Maribel/Denmark) allowed just two hits in 5.2 innings. Delorit had four strikeouts. Sam Spurney (Manitowoc/Manitowoc Lincoln) was 2-for-5 to lead the Pointers at the plate.

A five-run bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the difference in game two as the Pointers won 8-3. Travis Kempf (Kewaskum/Kewaskum) (Sr.-Kewaskum) had another effective start on the mound as he held La Crosse hitless through the first five innings. Stevens Point gave Kempf some run support in the bottom of the fourth as Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) scored on a wild pitch and Brad Frank (Slinger/Slinger) scored on a Brandon Scheidler (Chippewa Falls/McDonell) (Sr.-Chippewa Falls/McDonell) sacrifice fly. The Pointers got another run in the bottom of the fifth as Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay) scored on a Surman sacrifice fly to make the score 3-0.

Kempf got into a little trouble in the top of the sixth as he walked a batter and gave up his first hit of the game, a double. He then was replaced but the Eagles scored two in the inning to make the score 3-2. Stevens Point added a lot of insurance in the bottom of the seventh as Doug Coe (Appleton/North) had a RBI single to begin the scoring. Sam Spurney (Manitowoc/Manitowoc Lincoln) later drew a walk with the bases loaded to give the Pointers a 5-2 lead. Scheidler then ripped a two-run single and Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) (Sr.-Rhinelander) drew another walk with the bases loaded to make the score 8-2. The Eagles got one run in the ninth to make the final 8-3.

Travis Kempf (Kewaskum/Kewaskum) (2-0) got the win on the mound as he went 5.1, struck out two and only allowed one hit. Surman, Coe, and Spurney each had two hits to lead the Pointers' hitting.

Stevens Point has a record of 7-6 overall, while La Crosse is now 8-6 overall. The Pointers will host La Crosse for a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at University Field. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.