WHITEWATER, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (31-10) will play on Saturday after advancing in the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) with a game three victory. Top-seed UWSP fell to UW-Stout, 15-0, before beating UW-La Crosse in an elimination game, 12-8.
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) drove in five runs against UWL going 3-for-5 in the game. He collected four hits on the day, three of which were doubles.
UWSP got home runs in the game versus UWL from
Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander),
Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) and
Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North). Henwood,
Kyle Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) and
Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) had had two hits each in the game. Henwood and Finger scored three times apiece.
Game 1 – UWSP 0, UW-Stout 15 (7)
The Blue Devils set the tone early with five runs on six hits while batting around in the top of the first.
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) hit a two-out double in the bottom of the frame, but was stranded there to end the frame.
UW-Stout tacked on three more in the second on four more hits to chase UWSP starter
Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). Reliever
Zack Haupt (Carlsbad, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) held the fort until consecutive hits to begin the fourth when Stout went up 9-0.
Simmons hit a double to lead off the UWSP fourth. The Pointers offense sputtered and could advance him in the frame.
In the seventh, the Blue Devils put the finishing touches on the rout with six runs on four hits. Baumann got a two-out single in the bottom of the inning as a last ditch effort to avoid the shutout went for naught.
Game 2 – UWSP 12, UWL 8
Henwood hit a leadoff double in the second inning. Two batters later, Finger was hit by a pitch. Three consecutive walks to
Jacob Lillge (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute),
Tommy Duddleston (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) and Simmons pushed in two runs. Nelson followed with a sac fly as UWSP went ahead 3-0.
The lead lasted just four batters as a single, a walk and a three-run homer by the Eagles tied the game in the third.
Consecutive one-out walks to Henwood and Baumann were followed by a Finger single as the Pointers regained the lead. Lillge drew another walk to load the bases. Simmons unloaded the bases with a three-RBI double with two away as the lead grew to 7-3.
The teams traded single runs in the fourth with UWSP getting a solo home run from Luedtke. The Eagles added two runs in the fifth as UWSP's lead shrunk to 8-6.
Comer belted a leadoff home run in the sixth to put the advantage at 9-6. The Eagles scored twice in the seventh as UWSP's edge was cut to 9-8.
Finger hit a single to begin the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, he scored on a double by Simmons with Simmons ending up at third on the throw. That was crucial as Simmons scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-8.
Henwood ripped a two-out solo home run in the eighth to complete the scoring.
JD Schultz (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) struck out seven in the start with 4.0 innings pitched.
Nick Carpenter (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) tossed 3.0 and picked up the win.
Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) recorded his ninth save of the year with 2.0 innings of shutout ball.
The Pointers advance to game 5 of the WIAC Tournament at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday (May 22). UWSP will face the loser of game 4 between UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater.
