PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – For the 10th time in school history and the first time since 2011, the UW-Stevens Point baseball team (30-9, 24-4) claimed a share of the WIAC regular season championship with a sweep of UW-Platteville (15-25, 8-20) to close out the regular season.  UWSP jumped ahead early in game one, an 11-4 win, before rallying for a 6-2 win in game two.  The Pointers will be the #1 seed in next week's WIAC Tournament.
 
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) blasted three home runs on the day, including one in the first inning of game one and in the ninth inning of game two.  He had five hits on the day with four RBI and five runs scored.
 
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) hit his fourth home run of the week against UWP in game one.  He had three hits, drove in three and scored a run on the day.
 
Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) had four hits, including his second home run of the season.  He drove in four on the day and scored twice.
 
Game 1 – UWSP 11, UWP 4
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) led off the game with a single.  Simmons followed with a monster two-run home run that cleared the scoreboard in right-center to give UWSP a 2-0 early lead.
 
Simmons doubled to start the third inning.  Nelson followed with a two-run home run to double UWSP's advantage.  Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) hit a double and Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) reached on an error.  Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) drew a walk to load the bases.  A single by Baumann plated one.  Kyle Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) doubled to push home two more and Jacob Lillge (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute) became the eighth-consecutive hitter to reach with an RBI single for a 9-0 lead.
 
With two outs in the fourth, Henwood singled to center.  Baumann drove him in with a double to right-center and a 10-0 lead.
 
The Pioneers extended the game with a run in the seventh and three more in the eighth.
 
Baumann launched a two-out solo home run in the ninth to complete the scoring. 
 
Caleb Krommenakker (Rudolph, Wis./Lincoln) tossed 7.2 innings in the start to earn his fifth win of the season.  He struck out seven, didn't walk a batter and scattered six hits.  Tyler Beyer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) tossed a hitless 1.1 to finish the game.
 
Game 2 – UWSP 6, UWP 2
Simmons hit the first pitch of the third inning over the wall for his second home run of the day.
 
The Pioneers put up two run in the fourth on two hits for their first and only lead of the day.
 
In the top of the fifth, Simmons drew a one-out walk.  With two down, Comer doubled to tie the game at 2-2.  He scored on a wild pitch to give UWSP the lead for good.
 
UWSP manufactured a run in the sixth.  Henwood led off with a double.  He advance to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out to give the Pointers a 4-2 edge.
 
Duddleston was hit by a pitch to begin the seventh.  Simmons singled to put runners on the corners.  Nelson followed with a sac fly and a 5-2 lead.
 
Simmons punctuated the win with a solo home run in the ninth, his third two home run game of the season.
 
JD Schultz (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) pitched 7.0 strong to win his fourth of the year.  He struck out 13 and gave up just two hits. Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) tossed the final 2.0 to earn the save.  He struck out three.
 
The Pointers earned a bye into the final four double-elimination tournament at UW-Whitewater beginning on Friday (May 21).  As the top seed, UWSP will play the 1:00 p.m. game against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.