AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (3-0) posted three big innings in a 13-9 win over No. 11 Wheaton (2-2) in the team's opener in Florida on Thursday.
 
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) went 4-for-5 and was just a triple shy of a cycle. He blasted his third home run of the year and drove in two. He also scored three runs, one in each of the big innings.
 
Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) had three hits from the leadoff spot and also scored three times. He had one RBI on the day.
 
Lucas Luedtke (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) led the team with three RBI. Eight of the nine hitters in the lineup had a hit and seven different Pointers crossed the plate.
 
Baumann began the game with a solid single to left-center.  Simmons followed and blasted a two-run shot the right for a quick 2-0 lead. Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) and Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) hit consecutive singles and, with two away, Luedtke drew a walk to load the bases. Wheaton limited the damage stranding the bases loaded.
 
In the second, Logan Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) started the frame with a double to left-center. Baumann followed with a single to push Matson home. Simmons also singled and Nelson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Comer drove in a run with a sac fly for a 4-0 lead. A Wheaton error allowed another run to come home. After a fielder's choice, Luedtke ripped a double down the right field line to plate a run and put two in scoring position chasing the WC starter. Jakob Boos (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) greeted the new hurler with a single to plate a pair of runs and an 8-0 cushion.
 
Wheaton made it a game in the third with six runs on the five hits.  Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) held the lead by stranding the tying runs on base in the frame.  The Lyons added a run in the sixth to make it 8-7.
 
The Pointers responded in the seventh. Matson was plucked with one down. Baumann singled and, after a wild pitch, Simmons was intentionally walked to load the bases. Nelson popped up to short, but the ball fell in as a run scored. Comer hit another sac fly to make it 10-7.  Kyle Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) singled pushing a pair of runs home. Luedtke doubled to drive in two more for a 13-7 advantage.
 
Wheaton got a single tally in the eight as Tyler Beyer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) came on to strand the bases loaded. The Lyons got another in the ninth on three hits.
 
Nick Carpenter (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) started and went two-plus. He struck out three, all in the first inning.  Pickering went 3.1 with a strikeout to earn the win. Austin Syvertson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) tossed 2.1 and Beyer the final 1.1. Both struck out two batters.

The Pointers will face Coe on Friday (March 18) in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 9:30 a.m. ET.