STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (13-11) got seven innings of one-hit pitching from senior
Chris Hetzel (Oshkosh, Wis./Lourdes) to earn a split with visiting St. Norbert College (16-8) on Monday. The Pointers fell in the opening game, 8-0, before rallying for a 4-1 win in the nightcap.
Hetzel pitched seven strong innings in his first start of the season. He allowed just a single base hit, struck out one and allowed just six base runners.
Fellow senior
Clint Rose (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) drove in two of the four Pointers' runs on the day.
Ben Gerber (Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton) had three hits on the day, drew a walk and scored a run for UWSP.
Sophomore
Kyle Mrozinski (Ashwaubenon, Wis./Ashwaubenon) had a hit in each game. He drove in a run in game two on a sac fly. Freshmen
Jordan Carlson (Madison, Wis./Madison La Follette) and
John Popham (Waupaca, Wis./Waupaca ) also had a pair of hits each on the day.
Game 1 – UWSP 0, SNC 8
The Green Knights scored four runs on three singles and three walks to jump ahead early. SNC added a run in the second following a leadoff walk.
Popham got the Pointers' first hit of the game in the second. His two-out single went for naught as UWSP did not score in the frame.
The visitors scored twice more in the fourth. UWSP then got a leadoff single from Mrozinski in the bottom of the inning. Three batters later, Popham picked up his second hit of the game, but the threat ended a batter later without a run in the inning.
St. Norbert tacked on a run in the seventh to put the game away.
Relief pitcher
Tristan Brewer (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg) pitched the final five innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out three.
Game 2 – UWSP 4, SNC 1
Gerber singled to begin the bottom of the first. After he stole second, Rose moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. Mrozinski followed with a deep fly to center to plate Gerber.
The Green Knights turned a UWSP error into a run in the top of the second. A double, the lone SNC hit off of Hetzel, drove in the unearned run.
The Pointers turned two St. Norbert errors into a run in the third. Rose put down a squeeze bunt with runners on the corners for the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the fifth, UWSP took advantage of another SNC miscue. Gerber executed a perfect hit-and-run following the SNC error to put runners on the corners. Rose grounded into a fielder's choice to drive in an insurance run.
Mrozinski was plunked to begin the eighth. Another Green Knights error put two aboard. Later in the inning with two away, a pair of wild pitches allowed another UWSP run to score.
Andrew Holzli (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) got out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth to preserve the lead.
Alex Stodola (Coleman, Wis./Coleman) picked up his second save of the week with a perfect ninth that included a strikeout.
UWSP continues the home stand on Saturday (April 22) with a doubleheader against league-leader UW-Whitewater. The weekend series features Alumni Day on Saturday and doubleheaders beginning at 12:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday at University Field.
