WHITEWATER, Wis. – Mitch Beau (Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary Springs) threw a three-hit shutout to pitch the third-seeded UW-Stevens Point baseball team to a 2-0 win over second-seeded UW-La Crosse in the team's opening game of the 2015 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship on Friday afternoon at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium.

Box Score

Beau held the Eagles to three hits and five walks in the shutout to outduel UW-La Crosse (28-11) starter Ben Cejka and improve to 7-2 this season. Cejka limited the Pointers to two runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings but took just his second loss of the season (6-2).

With the win, UW-Stevens Point will face top-seeded UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m. tonight in the tournament's winner's bracket.

UW-Stevens Point scored the only run Beau would need in the top of the fourth inning when Bobby Gregorich (Plover, WI/SPASH) was hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded, scoring Taylor Carlson (Madison, WI/La Follette). The Pointers had just one hit in the inning but capitalized on a walk and two hit batters in the frame. The walk in the inning was to Riley Spetz (Sturgeon Bay, WI/Sevastopol), extending his streak of reaching base safely to 45 games.

The inning before, UW-La Crosse threatened to take the lead after Eric Vatch hit a one-out triple. Alex Cordova, the next batter, lifted a fly ball into left field but Cody Hanke (Marathon, WI/Marathon) came up with his fourth outfield assist, throwing out Vatch at the plate. The only other two hits Beau gave up were singles in the second and fifth innings.

UW-Stevens Point added a late insurance run on a two-out, pinch-hit single by Peter Strommen (Madison, WI/East). Strommen fell behind reliever Jake Stern 0-2 but battled back to push the count full, before singling in Carlson from third.

Carlson was the lone player for either team to have two hits in the game, going 2-for-4 with two runs. The Pointers outhit the Eagles 9-3 in the game but stranded 12 baserunners. The UW-Stevens Point defense turned three double plays behind Beau in the contest.