LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 7 UW-Stevens Point baseball team used a five-run seventh inning and a strong pitching performance by
Mitch Beau (Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary Springs) to defeat UW-La Crosse 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon at Copeland Park.
Box Score UW-Stevens Point (13-4, 4-1 WIAC) and UW-La Crosse (10-5, 3-2 WIAC) traded early runs in the first two innings but the only scoring after that was the five-run seventh for the Pointers. The win was UWSP's 10th in the last 13 meetings against the Eagles over the last two-plus seasons.
With runners on second and third and one out in the seventh,
Peter Strommen (Madison, WI/East) delivered the eventual game-winning hit, singling through the left side to score
Cody Hanke (Marathon, WI/Marathon). The next two hitters,
Taylor Carlson (Madison, WI/LaFollette) and
Ben Gerber (Stoughton, WI/Stoughton), each singled in runs before
Riley Spetz (Sturgeon Bay, WI/Sevastopol) delivered a two-run double down the left field line.
The six runs were more than Beau needed, as the senior moved to 3-0 by giving up just an unearned run in eight innings. Beau allowed seven hits and five walks but stranded 10 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth.
Beau has now allowed just three earned runs in five starts this season and his eight innings are a career-high for the righthander.
Alex Thompson (Tomah, WI/Tomah) recorded the final three outs on the mound for UWSP.
UW-Stevens Point entered the game with the best earned-run average (2.08) in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the fifth-best mark in the country. The Pointers have held their opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 16 of 17 games this season.
After giving up a run in the first, UW-La Crosse's Troy Kenkel shut the Pointers down until the seventh, retiring 13 batters in a row at one point. Five of the six hits Kenkel allowed in the game came in the seventh inning.
The teams started game two of the doubleheader but the game was called off in the bottom of the first inning due to weather. The Eagles had a runner on second and one out in a 0-0 game. UWSP and UWL will play three times on Wednesday, April 15 in La Crosse.
The Pointers host UW-Oshkosh for doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12 at University Field. Saturday's doubleheader is the team's Military Appreciation Day with games beginning at noon.
