DECATUR, Ill. – The No. 6 UW-Stevens Point baseball team (2-0) won both games on Opening Day in Illinois taking down St. Scholastica, 4-1, and finishing the day with a 4-2 victory over Coe.
The top of UWSP's lineup provided most of the offense on the day.
Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) hit second in both games and collected four hits on the day.
Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) led off and had a hit in each game. Both had a run scored and a RBI in the win over CSS.
Anthony Tomczak (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) had three hits. He drove in three on the day and scored a run.
Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander),
Kyle Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) and
Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) each had a RBI as well.
On the mound,
Tyler Beyer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) was dominant in game one, tossing six scoreless innings in his first career start.
Nick Paulsen (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity) scattered three hits in 5.0 innings in game two to earn the win.
Game 1 – UWSP 4, St. Scholastica 1
Baumann led off the first with a double and moved to third on a single by Nelson. Two batters later, Comer put UWSP in front with an RBI single.
Nelson hit a one-out double in the third. Tomczak also doubled and the UWSP lead was 2-0 after three.
Henwood and
Jakob Boos (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) drew back-to-back one-out walks in the sixth.
Trent Van Ess (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) singled to load the bases. Baumann hit a sac fly to drive in one. Nelson followed with a single to drive in another and UWSP was up 4-0.
The Saints got a run in the ninth on two hits to thwart the shutout bid by UWSP pitching. Beyer struck out three and did not allow a walk. He scattered three hits in 6.0 frames.
Mason Weckler (Belvidere, Ill./North) made his UWSP debut and tossed the final 3.0 innings to earn the save. He struck out four.
Game 2 – UWSP 4, Coe 2
Boos and Van Ess drew consecutive walks to start the third. Baumann moved both runners into scoring position with a sac bunt. Two batters later, Tomczak drove them both in with a single to left. Comer was hit by a pitch and
Logan Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) singled to load the bases. Finger drew a base on balls to make it 3-0.
Coe got on the board in the fourth with a run on three hits.
The Pointers got the run back in the fifth. Matson was hit by a pitch with one out. He moved to second on a groundout and scored on a single by Henwood as UWSP took a 4-1 lead.
The Kohawks got a run in the seventh, but UWSP bullpen closed the door for the win.
Paulsen struck out five to earn the win.
Nathan Krommenakker (Rudolph, Wis./Lincoln) struck out one in 2.0 of relief.
Austin Syvertson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) pitched a scoreless eighth and
Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) earned his first save of the season with a perfect ninth.
The Pointers wrap up opening weekend with a 12:00 p.m. game against host Millikin on Monday (March 6).
