Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

STEVENS POINT – The 24th-ranked UW-Stevens Point baseball team finally got to play its home opener today at University Field and defeated UW-La Crosse 13-1 in seven innings in game one and 9-7 in game two to sweep the Eagles.

The Pointers improve to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Eagles fall to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in the conference. Today's doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played last Sunday in Stevens Point, but due to poor field conditions the games were moved to today.

Stevens Point had no trouble putting runs on the scoreboard in game one of the doubleheader as it scored in five of the six innings. In the bottom of the first, Doug Coe (Appleton/North) (Sr.-Appleton/North) hit a two-run single to give the Pointers a 2-0 lead. The Pointers added three more runs in the bottom of the second as Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) (Fr.-Kimberly) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH) (Fr.-Custer/SPASH) and Coe again stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home run.

After La Crosse got a run in the third inning, Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay) hit a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the inning to give the Pointers a 6-1 lead. Stevens Point made it three straight innings with a home run in the fourth as Brandon Scheidler (Chippewa Falls/McDonell) (Sr.-Chippewa Falls/McDonell) went yard over the left field fence to make the score 7-1.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Stevens Point put six runs on the board. After a strikeout to leadoff the inning, the Eagles walked four straight batters to force in a run. An error with the bases loaded allowed two more Pointers to cross the plate and make the score 10-1. Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) later scored on a groundout and Kyle Cummings (Prentice/Prentice) (Jr.-Prentice) doubled to left field to drive in two and make the score 13-1. The Eagles would not score in the top of the seventh as the game ended by way of the 10-run rule 13-1 in seven innings.

Mike Thrun (Franklin/Franklin) (Sr.-Franklin) (1-1) had the complete game victory for Stevens Point as he struck out four and scattered four hits. Doug Coe (Appleton/North) was 2-for-5 with four RBIs to lead the Pointers at the plate.

In game two, the Pointers fell behind early as the Eagles scored four runs in the top of the second, all of which coming with two outs and all unearned. However, the Pointers got all four runs back in the bottom half of the inning as Ben Warwick (Green Bay/Bay Port) (Sr.-Green Bay/Bay Port) hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot, to make the score 4-3. Then with two outs Joel Hojnacki (Plover/SPASH) (Sr.-Plover/SPASH) hit a single and stole second. Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) (Sr.-Rhinelander) followed that with a RBI to right field to drive in Hojnacki and tie the score 4-4.

The Eagles hit a home run to leadoff the third inning to take the lead once again 5-4. Stevens Point tied it back up in the bottom of the fourth when Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) hit a RBI single to plate Bushong. The Pointers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) hit his second home run of the afternoon to make the score 7-5. La Crosse quickly got two runs in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 7-7.

In the bottom of the seventh, Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) ripped a single to center field to score Larsen and give the Pointers the lead for good at 8-7. Doug Coe (Appleton/North) added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth with his second home run of the day to make the score 9-7. The Eagles loaded the bases with one out, but Jeff Zielke (Watertown/Watertown) (Jr.-Watertown) struck out the final two batters to give the Pointers the sweep on the day.

Travis Kempf (Kewaskum/Kewaskum) (Sr.-Kewaskum) (3-0) pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win for Stevens Point. Doug Coe (Appleton/North) was 3-for-4 with a RBI to finish 5-for-9 with two home runs and five RBIs on the day. Coe currently has a team-high 12-game hitting streak.

The Pointers will be at home again on Saturday when they host St. Norbert College for a non-conference doubleheader at University Field. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.