STEVENS POINT, Wis.— The UW-Stevens Point baseball team split the final games of the regular season with No. 4UW-La Crosse, winning the first game 9-2, before falling 11-6 in the second game on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon at University Field.
UW-Stevens Point 9, No. 4 UW-La Crosse 2
UW-Stevens Point (21-19, 10-10 WIAC) Cody Hanke (Marathon, WI/Marathon) hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to break open the game putting the Pointers up 7-2 on UW-La Crosse (31-8, 18-2 WIAC). In game one, Hanke went 1-for-2, scoring three runs with 4 RBI.
UWL got out to an early 1-0 lead, after Taylor Kohlwey reached on an error, scoring Joel Zyhowski.
In the bottom half of the inning, Tuner Doornink answered with a three run home run to take a 3-1 lead before Hanke broke the game open.
The Pointers added insurance runs in the seventh inning, off an RBI single by Peter Strommen (Madison, WI/East) and Hanke scoring on a wild pitch.
Cole Erickson (Deerfield, WI/Deerfield) picked up the win, with a complete game striking out six batters.
No. 4 UW-La Crosse 11, UW-Stevens Point 6
Taylor Kowhlwey, went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple in the second inning to help guide the Eagles to an 11-6 win in game two. Kowhlwey's extra base hit was part of a seven run second inning that put the Eagles in the driver's seat.
Ray Greco (Downers Grove, IL/North) went 2-for-4 with four RBI for UWSP. Greco hit a 2-run home run in the seventh inning that cut UWL to 9-5, putting UWSP within striking distance.
In the eighth inning, Nate Heili scored for UW-La Crosse to put the eagles up 10-5.
In the bottom half, Strommen hit a solo home run to cut the lead to four, before UW-La Crosse Alex Brown homered in the ninth to give the Eagles a 11-6 lead.
Ben Servais (East Bethel, MN/St. Francis) took the loss for UWSP, pitching just 1.1 innings. Dave VanVliet pitched 5.2 innings in relief, and Alex Stodola (Coleman, WI/Coleman) pitched the final two frames.
The Pointers advanced the WIAC Tournament, which will begin play on Fri., May 13 at UW-La Crosse. Opponent and time are TBA.