STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Senior Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) was the only offense for the No. 13 UW-Stevens Point baseball team (29-11) as the Pointers fell to UW-Whitewater (29-12) by a 9-1 score in an elimination game of the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's).
 
Nelson went 3-for-4 and ended a triple shy of the cycle. He hit his team-leading 10th home run of the season, a solo shot in the ninth, to account for the only UWSP run.
 
The Warhawks hit a two-run home run in the first inning and UWSP was in an early hole.
 
Jakob Boos (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first. Two batters later, Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) drew a base on balls, but both remained on base as the inning ended.
 
UWW added two more runs in the second, three in the fourth and two additional runs in the eighth.
 
Nelson got UWSP's first hit, a two-out double in the third. He singled with one away in the sixth. In the ninth, he led off with a solo home run to keep UWSP from getting shut out.
 
Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and Mason Weckler (Belvidere, Ill./North) had two strikeouts apiece in 4.0 innings of work each. Austin Syvertson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) tossed a perfect ninth with one strikeout.
 
UWSP will await Monday's NCAA Tournament selection to determine its possible postseason fate.