Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

STEVENS POINT – The 24th-ranked UW-Stevens Point baseball team had no trouble with St. Norbert College today, sweeping the doubleheader at University Field by scores of 12-0 in eight innings in game one and 9-1 in game two.

The Pointers improve to 11-6 overall, while the Green Knights fall to 6-5 overall. Stevens Point has won 10 straight games against St. Norbert.

The Pointers were stellar on the mound in game one as three pitchers combined for the five-hit shutout. A pair of RBI singles by Brandon Scheidler (Chippewa Falls/McDonell) (Sr.-Chippewa Falls/McDonell) and Brad Frank (Slinger/Slinger) (Sr.-Slinger) gave Stevens Point a 2-0 lead after the first inning. In the second inning, Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) (Sr.-Rhinelander) hit a solo home run to make the score 3-0. In the fourth inning, Bushong hit a RBI single up the middle to score Tim Schlosser (Oconomowoc/Oconomowoc) (Sr.-Oconomowoc) and extend the Pointer lead to 4-0.

Meanwhile, Pointer starting pitcher Garrett Nix (Osseo/Osseo-Fairchild) (Jr.-Osseo/Osseo-Fairchild) was cruising through the St. Norbert lineup. In six innings of work Nix allowed just three hits and struck out four.

Stevens Point put four runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Bushong doubled to left center to score Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH) (Fr.-Custer/SPASH) and an error by the Green Knights allowed another run to come in. Later in the inning, Bushong scored on a throwing error and Doug Coe (Appleton/North) (Sr.-Appleton/North) would hit a RBI single to drive in Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay) to make the score 8-0 Pointers.

In the bottom of the eighth, Scheidler would hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-0. Then with two outs Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH) hit a three-run home run to end the game by way of the 10-run rule by a score of 12-0.

Nix improves to 3-2 with the win. Kevin Thompson (Gladstone, MI/Gladstone) (Fr.-Gladstone, MI) and Tyler Lorenz (Pembine/Pembine-Goodman) (So.-Pembine/Pembine-Goodman) pitched two innings of scoreless relief. Bushong was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, just missing a triple for the cycle.

Game two proved to be a pitchers' dual for the first seven innings. The Pointers struck first again in the bottom of the third as Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) hit a RBI single to plate Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH). The Green Knights got their first run of the afternoon in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.

Stevens Point retook the lead in the bottom of the inning on a Ben Warwick (Green Bay/Bay Port) (Sr.-Green Bay/Bay Port) RBI double that made the score 2-1. It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth when the Pointers broke the game open. Doug Coe (Appleton/North) led off the inning with a solo home run that snuck just inside the left field foul pole. The home run extended his hit streak to a team-high 14 games.

Later in the inning, the Pointers scored on a throwing error to make it 4-1. Two more RBI singles followed that as the score was 6-1. Still with no outs in the inning, Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) hit a three-run home run, his second of the afternoon, to make the score 9-1. That would be the final as the Pointers cruised to a doubleheader sweep.

Joel Delorit (Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door) (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door) (2-0) picked up the win on the mound as he went six innings, struck out seven and allowed just three hits. Stewart Larsen (Sturgeon Bay/Sturgeon Bay) and Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH) each had a pair of hits to lead the Pointers at the plate. Justin Bushong (Rhinelander/Rhinelander) finished at 4-for-9 with six RBIs and two home runs on the day.

The Pointers will face nationally-ranked UW-Oshkosh in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) showdown on Wednesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Tiedemann Field.