STEVENS POINT, Wis. – One record fell and another was tied in the same inning as the No. 12 UW-Stevens Point baseball team (36-8) staved off elimination in a split on day two of the NCAA Tournament Regional. The Pointers dropped an 8-2 decision to North Central (35-12) in the winners game before eliminating Coe (22-21) with a 10-5 victory in the nightcap.
Senior
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) clubbed his 19th home run of the year setting the single season record with the dinger. He broke a tie with Steve Wiczek who swapped 18 in 2005. Simmons' home run was one of three extra-base hits in the win over Coe.
Fellow senior
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) tied the all-time doubles record one at-bat after Simmons' long ball. He hit his 49th career double tying Tim Schlosser who hit 49 from 2005-08. Nelson was a triple shy of the cycle with three hits against Coe.
Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) had three hits on the day.
Logan Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) and
Jakob Boos (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) each hit a home run on the day with Matson driving in three in the win.
Game 1 – UWSP 2, NCC 8
UWSP starter
Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) held the Cardinals at bay until the second hit of the game for NCC in the fifth inning put the visitors ahead, 1-0.
NCC put up three runs in the six and four more in the seventh as UWSP faced an 8-0 hole.
The Pointers finally got on the board in the eighth.
Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) singled with one away. He moved to second when Nelson was hit by a pitch. Comer then singled to left as UWSP made it 8-1.
Boos hit a two-out solo home run in the ninth, but the Pointers were unable to complete the comeback.
Pickering struck out five, but five walks hurt his effort.
Austin Syvertson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) struck out one in relief and
Nathan Krommenakker (Rudolph, Wis./Lincoln) fanned four over 3.0 innings of work.
Game 2 – UWSP 10, Coe 5
Simmons put the Pointers in front with his record-setting solo home run in the top of the first. Nelson followed with his record-tying double, but UWSP was unable to boost the lead further in the inning.
That changed in the second.
Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) drew a two-out walk.
Kyle Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) singled and Matson swapped a three-run home run to give UWSP a 4-0 advantage.
Coe cut the lead in the half in the bottom of the second. Nelson quickly got a run back with a leadoff home run in the third. The Pointers tacked on another run in the inning off an RBI single by Finger for a 6-2 lead.
Simmons doubled with one out in the fourth. Nelson followed with a single and the first run scored on a wild pitch. Comer drove in another with a double off the top of the wall in right-center. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and Henwood gave UWSP a 9-2 lead with a sac fly.
In the seventh, Finger drew a leadoff walk. Then with two away, he scored on another double by Simmons. The Kohawks put up three runs in the eighth, but UWSP's lead stood at the end.
Caleb Krommenakker (Rudolph, Wis./Lincoln) went 8.0, his second-straight start going eight innings. He struck out four.
Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout.
The Pointers face North Central at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday (May 22), the first of potentially two games against the Cardinals. UWSP needs two wins on Sunday to advance to the Super Regional Round.
