LAKELAND, Fla. – In a matchup of top-10 teams, the No. 10 UW-Stevens Point baseball team raced out to a 7-1 lead and help on for an 11-9 victory over No. 8 Southern Maine on Sunday at Henley Field.
Box Score Southern Maine (5-2) overcame the 7-1 deficit to lead 8-7 in the fifth before UW-Stevens Point (3-2) responded with three runs to take a 10-8 lead. The Huskies had the bases loaded with one out but
Mitch Beau (Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary Springs) escaped the jam to record his first collegiate save with a strikeout and a grounder to third.
UW-Stevens Point led 7-1 after scoring four runs in the top of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run home run by
Cody Hanke (Marathon, WI/Marathon).
Brandon Kranz (Waukesha, WI/West) and
Ray Greco (Downers Grove, IL/North) also added RBI doubles in the inning.
However, Southern Maine scored seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning. Seven straight hitters reached base for the Huskies, including a three-run shot by Jake Welch.
The Pointers replied by scoring three runs on fie hits in the top of the sixth.
Jimmy Coady (La Crosse, WI/Aquinas), Hanke and Kranz each had run-scoring singles in the inning. The Huskies got within one on a solo home run by Paul McDonough but
Tyler Thomka (Muskego, WI/Muskego) gave UWSP a two-run lead again in the eighth, playing Coady with a single.
The teams combined for 20 runs on 32 hits in the game. Coady and Hanke each had three hits for UWSP and Coady scored four times, while Hanke and Kranz each drove in three. Seven players had at least two hits for UW-Stevens Point.
Freshman
Ben Miller (Union Grove, WI/Union Grove) picked up the first win of his collegiate career for UW-Stevens Point after throwing 1.1 innings after replacing starter
Nick Prebelski (Green Bay, WI/Notre Dame) in the fifth. Fellow freshman
Heinrich Walder (Rosholt, WI/Rosholt) tossed two scoreless innings before turning the ball over to Beau for the save.
Four pitchers worked in the game for the Huskies. Andrew Richards took the loss, giving up three runs in the final four innings. Paul McDonough led Southern Maine's offense, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
UW-Stevens Point is off on Monday, March 16 before taking on Rutgers-Camden (NJ) on Tuesday, March 17 at 3:30 p.m. EST at Lake Myrtle Field #3.
