STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 25 UW-Stevens Point baseball team (20-8, 12-4) took full advantage of playing at home with five home runs in the first home games of the season to sweep visiting Illinois Tech (12-18, 3-11) on Saturday.  UWSP won game one, 11-2, and completed the sweep with a 5-2 win in game two.
 
Ryan Stanicek (Loves Park, Ill./Boylan Catholic) belted two home runs, one in each game, for UWSP.  He also doubled, drew two walks and stole a base on the day.
 
Freshman Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis. /West) hit his first career home run and totaled three extra-base hits on the day.  He drove in three and scored twice.
 
Fellow freshman Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis. /Franklin) also blasted his first career home run.  He went 3-for-4 in game one with three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) had four hits on the day and scored a run in each game.  Kyle Mrozinski (Ashwaubenon, Wis./Ashwaubenon) had three hits and drove in three for the Pointers.
 
Game 1 – UWSP 11, IIT 2
Duddleston doubled with one down in the first inning.  Two batters later, he scored on a Mrozinski single to put UWSP ahead, 1-0.
 
In the third, Stanicek drew a one-out walk and stole second.  With two away, Nelson roped a triple to right-center to up the lead to 2-0.
 
Christian Zamudio (Kenosha, Wis. /Tremper) reached on a passed ball in the fourth.  Simmons followed a walloped a two-run shot over the right-center fence to increase the lead to 4-0.
 
Stanicek led off the fifth with a solo home run and a 5-0 UWSP advantage.
 
Starting pitcher Ben Miller (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but with one away in the frame, IIT ended the no-hit bid.  Three hits later, the Scarlet Hawks had two runs and cut into the UWP lead.
 
In the seventh, Will Iloncaie singled to start the inning.  He stole second and Stanicek drew a walk.  With two away and a runner aboard, Nelson crushed a two-run shot to left-center. 
 
Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls ) began the eighth with a base on balls.  Zamudio and Simmons singled back-to-back to push home a run.  Pinch hitter Neal Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) clubbed his second home run of the season to left, a three-run shot, to make it 11-2 in favor of the Pointers.
 
Miller went 8.0 innings with five strikeouts.  He allowed three hits, all in the sixth inning, in the dominant performance.  Beau Zeihen (Portage, Wis./Portage) pitched a perfect ninth to seal the win.
 
Game 2 – UWSP 5, IIT 2
Matson doubled to lead off the third inning.  He moved to third on a fly out and scored on a sac fly by Iloncaie for a 1-0 lead.
 
IIT tied the game in the fifth on a solo home run on the first pitch of the inning.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Jordan Carlson (Madison, Wis./Madison La Follette) singled and moved to second on a sac bunt.  With two away, Duddleston singled to drive in the go-ahead run.  Nelson doubled to put two in scoring position and both runners came in on a Mrozinski single to right.
 
Stanicek crushed his second home run of the day in the seventh.  IIT hit a solo shot in the eighth to complete the scoring.
 
UWSP starter Tristan Brewer (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg) tossed 6.0 innings for the win.  He struck out four and scattered three hits.  Alex Stodola (Coleman, Wis./Coleman) pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save of the season.
 
The Pointers and Scarlet Hawks conclude the series on Sunday with a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader at University Field.