STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point baseball team split a pair of one-run games against UW-Oshkosh, winning game one 2-1 in 10 innings before dropping game two 9-8 on Sunday afternoon at University Field.
 
No. 7 UW-Stevens Point 2, UW-Oshkosh 1 (10 inn.) | Box
 
Ben Gerber (Stoughton, WI/Stoughton) dropped down a game-winning squeeze bunt with one out in the bottom of the 10th to give UW-Stevens Point (16-5, 7-2 WIAC) a late win in game one, after Mitch Beau (Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary Springs) and Peter Jewell each turned in strong performances on the mound.
 
Ray Greco (Downers Grove, IL/North) opened the bottom of the 10th by reaching on an error and moved around to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch on a third strike, which put runners on the corners with one out. Gerber then laid down a bunt up the first-base line, scoring Greco for the walk-off win.
 
The Pointers managed just six hits off UW-Oshkosh (10-12, 2-8 WIAC) starter Jewell, who threw all 9.1 innings for the Titans. Jewell allowed two runs, one earned, with no walks and six strikeouts.
 
Beau held UW-Oshkosh to just an unearned run over nine innings but received a no-decision. The senior walked one and struck out six before giving way to Alex Thompson (Tomah, WI/Tomah), who earned his first collegiate win with a scoreless top of the 10th.
 
Beau has now allowed just three earned runs in 44.2 innings, lowering his ERA to 0.60 through six starts. The senior entered the week ranked 19th in the country with a 0.76 ERA.
 
UW-Stevens Point took a 1-0 lead in the home half of the fourth, scoring on a two-out RBI single by Cody Hanke (Marathon, WI/Marathon), who was 3-for-4 in the game. The Titans tied the game in the sixth on Jack Paulson's two-out RBI single up the middle.
 
UW-Oshkosh 9, No. 7 UW-Stevens Point 8 | Box
 
UW-Oshkosh overcame an early 5-0 deficit, scoring four runs in the seventh inning and held on in the final frame in the nightcap. Noah Polcyn reached base all five times for the Titans, who took advantage of five UW-Stevens Point errors.
 
Polcyn hit a two-run single in the fourth to get the Titans within 6-4 before John Eagan plated two runs with a double down the left-field line in the four-run seventh that saw the visitors take an 8-6 lead.
 
Greco's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh brought the Pointers within one but the Titans replied with an unearned run in the top of the eighth, which turned out to be the eventual game-winning run.
 
Needing two runs in the ninth, UW-Stevens Point had runners on second and third with nobody out. Greco then hit a sacrifice fly before Jesse Sustachek retired the final two batter to record the save.
 
Early on, UW-Stevens Point built a 5-0 lead after a five-hit, four-run second that included six-straight hitters reaching base. Hanke was 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI and finished the day 7-for-9 at the plate in his first-career four-hit game. All nine UWSP hitters recorded at least one hit, as the Pointers outhit the Titans 13-9 in the loss.
 
UW-Stevens Point plays three games at UW-La Crosse on Wednesday, April 15. The Pointers and Eagles resume a game started on Tuesday, April 7 at noon before playing two more games. The third game will be a seven-inning affair.