MAUSTON, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (13-4, 5-0) remained unbeaten in conference play and extended its winning streak to nine-straight with a sweep of UW-Stout (3-13, 0-5) on Wednesday. The Pointers rolled to a 10-1 win in game one, but it took 14 innings in game two for UWSP to prevail, 4-1.
Neal Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) led the Pointers with five hits on the day, including his first career home run. He scored four times in the twin bill and drove home a pair of runs.
Kyle Mrozinski (Ashwaubenon, Wis./Ashwaubenon) also belted a home run on the day, one of his four hits. He had three RBI and scored twice.
Christian Zamudio (Kenosha, Wis. /Tremper) also collected four hits. He drove in a run and scored another.
Will Iloncaie had four RBI on the day, including the game-winner in game two.
Game 1 – UWSP 10, Stout 1
The Pointers jumped on top in the second.
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis. /West) hit a leadoff triple and scored on a
Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls ) single. Matson followed with a double to right to put two in scoring position. With two away, Iloncaie drove in two runs with a single up the middle. The inning continued with a wild pitch and Iloncaie scored on a Mrozinski double to left-center and a 4-0 lead.
In the third inning, Nelson reached on a one-out error. Two batters later, Matson blasted his first career home run to increase the lead to 6-0.
Zamudio began the fourth with a single to center. Iloncaie and
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) followed with singles to load the bases. A passed ball allowed a run to score to put UWSP up 7-0.
Luedtke singled to start the fifth and moved to second on a passed ball. Matson singled and a wild pitch brought home another run.
Ben Faga (La Crosse, Wis./Central) hit a single to right to put runners on the corners. Zamudio drove in a run with groundout and Faga moved to third on a passed ball. Iloncaie followed with a sac fly to right to push the advantage to 10-0.
The Blue Devils got an unearned run in the sixth on an error and three hits, but starting pitcher
Ben Miller (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) got out of a jam and stranded the bases loaded.
Miller pitched 6.0 innings to start the game. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. Zach Miller tossed the final 3.0 innings. He struck out three and gave up just one hit in a shutout outing for his first career save.
Game 2 – UWSP 4, Stout 1 (14 inn.)
Mrozinski began the sixth inning with a single up the middle.
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) followed with a single to right and both runners moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by
Ryan Stanicek (Loves Park, Ill./Boylan Catholic). Nelson hit a deep fly to center to plate the first run of the game for a 1-0 UWSP lead.
The Blue Devils hit back-to-back doubles in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1.
The game remained tied until the top of the 14th. Matson led off with a single. Faga followed with a single and
Jordan Carlson (Madison, Wis./Madison La Follette) moved both runners into scoring position with a sac bunt. Iloncaie untied the game with a sac fly. Mrozinski followed with a two-run home run, his third of the year.
Nathan Mulzer (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) threw the first 7.0 innings with six strikeouts and three hits allowed.
Drew Spaeth (Stratford, Wis./Stratford) pitched the final 7.0 innings for the win. He struck out seven and scattered five hits.
The Pointers head to Oshkosh to face the Titans in a single game on Thursday at 3:00 p.m.