STEVENS POINT – Senior Scott Williams (Baraboo/Baraboo) threw eight-plus innings and Dan Douglas (East Troy, WI/East Troy) went 4-for-5 with two RBIs to help the top-seeded Pointers baseball team secure a 6-5 victory in the opening round of the 2011 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament on Friday afternoon.
UWW 21 - UWO 2 Box Score
UWSP 6 - UWW 5 Box Score
Game 1 Photo Gallery
The Warhawks (32-10) won their opening game of the tournament 21-2 against UW-Oshkosh to advance and face the #1 seed Pointers. The Warhakws will now face the Titans again in an elimination game on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., weather permitting.
The 21 runs scored by the Warhawks in game one also sets a new WIAC Tournament record for runs scored by one team. The old record was 17, achieved by both the Warhawks and Pointers.
Whitewater drew first blood in the match-up of the nationally ranked foes, plating an unearned run in the top of the opening inning but left the bases loaded.
The Pointers answered back in the home half of the first as Douglas led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a Sean Gerber (Stoughton, WI/Stoughton) sacrifice fly.
In the second, the Pointers hung two more runs on the board when Jared Surman (Kimberly/Kimberly) and Steve Considine (Portage/Portage) scored on another Douglas double and a Cody Koback (Plover/SPASH) single.
Whitewater struck back and tied the score at 3-3in the third inning, plating a pair of runs on a Brent Young single.
The Pointers once again had an answer to the Warhawk offense, plating three runs off a sacrifice fly by Jordan Rennicke (Mequon/Homestead), a single by Surman and yet another double by Douglas.
The Pointers bats got cold from there, recording just two more hits off Warhawk starter Justin Lambert but some stellar defensive plays and the solid pitching of Williams and Joel Delorit (Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door), who came on with two outs in the ninth to record just his second career save, sealed the victory.
The final push from the Warhawks came in the top of the ninth, trailing 6-4 when Matt Beyer doubled to lead-off the inning and came around on a Daniel Putnam two out double. Delorit came on in relief, and after walking the first batter, forced Rob Coe into a game-ending line-out to first base.
Casey Barnes (Mequon, WI/Homestead), Surman and Considine each recorded two hits on the afternoon to aid Douglas' offensive effort. Williams struck out five in 8.2 innings of work, scattering nine hits.
UW-Stevens Point will need just one more win while either Oshkosh or Whitewater will need three wins on the final day of the tournament to secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III regional.
Be sure to check http://athletics.uwsp.edu or www.wiacsports.com for any updates to the schedule for the remainder of the tournament.
