STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (17-4, 12-2) kept pace at the top of the WIAC standings by splitting a doubleheader with No. 8 UW-Whitewater (18-3, 12-2) on Tuesday at Zimmermann Field. UWSP dropped the first game, 11-1, before rallying with a 7-3 win in game two.
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) backed up his WIAC Athlete of the Week honor earned earlier in the day with a five-hit performance. Over the two games, he hit for the cycle with a home run in game one and a double and triple in game two.
Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) matched Simmons with his seventh home run of the season in game two.
Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) had two hits in game two with an RBI and run scored.
Game 1 – UWSP 1, UWW 11 (7)
The Warhawks jumped out to a 10-0 lead after two innings with three home runs in the first inning and three more hits in the second.
Simmons led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to right, his seventh dinger of the year.
UWW got another run in the seventh on a solo home run to complete the run-rule victory.
Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) settled down after the first two innings to last 6.0 in the start. He struck out four.
Game 2 – UWSP 7, UWW 3
Simmons tripled with one out in the bottom of the first and scored on an error to make it 1-0 in favor of UWSP. It was his program record 14th career triple.
The fourth inning started with a single from Simmons.
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) followed with a single. Comer then belted a three-run home run to left giving UWSP a 4-1 lead.
Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) walked and scored on a double from Henwood. Two batters later, ripped a single to center for a 6-1 lead.
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) kicked off the seventh with a single to right. Simmons then hit a double to put two in scoring position. Nelson plated a run with a sac fly for a 7-2 lead.
The Warhawks got a run in the ninth, but UWSP held UWW at bay for the win.
Nick Carpenter (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) improved to 3-0 on the year with 5.0 innings of work. He struck out five.
Austin Syvertson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) tossed 3.0 with two strikeouts.
Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) punched out on in an inning of work.
The Pointers and Warhawks face off again on Friday (April 23) in Whitewater. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.