RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point baseball team (5-7, 1-1) split a doubleheader to open conference play at UW-River Falls (6-5, 1-1) on Friday. The Pointers won the opener, 12-8, before suffering a 7-6 loss in game two.
 
Kamden Oliver (Viroqua, Wis./Viroqua) had five hits on the day with four in the first game, three of which were doubles. He scored four runs on the day and drove in two.
 
Cooper Brown (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) had four hits and he drew three walks. He drove in three and scored three runs. Nick Argersinger (Bristol, Wis./Westosha Central) added three hits with four runs scored and an RBI in each game.
 
Game 1 – UWSP 12, UWRF 8
UWRF put up two runs in the bottom of the first on a pair of hits. In the second, the Pointers got a leadoff double from Oliver. Tyler Soule (Oregon, Wis./Oregon) followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Brown hit a sac fly as UWSP cut the deficit in half.
 
Jackson Adams (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) began the third with a double. With two away, Argersinger hit a double to push Adams home. Oliver hit an RBI single and Soule blasted a two-run home run to center for a 5-4 lead.
 
Brennan Huber (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) started the fourth with a double. He moved to third on a bunt single by Adams. Connor Olson (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) hit a sac fly to tie the game at 6-6.
 
Argersinger drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. Oliver doubled and Argersinger scored from first tying the game at 7-7.
 
Argersinger was hit by a pitch to begin the seventh. Oliver doubled to put runners in scoring position. Soule drew a walk to load the bases. Brown singled to score one. A balk plated another. Colton Martell (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) singled to drive in another. A second balk of the frame led to another run. Two batters later, Adams hit an RBI groundout for a 12-7 lead.
 
Josh Steger (Lomira, Wis./Lomira) earned his first career win with 4.0 innings in relief. Mitchell Crawley (Wind Lake, Wis./Muskego) and Isaiah Piscitello (Wausau, Wis./West) each had one strikeout in 3.0 combined frames.
 
Game 2 – UWSP 6, UWRF 7
Oliver was hit by a pitch to begin the second inning. Brown and Huber drew consecutive one-out walks to load the bases. Tomczak reached on an error as two runs scored for a 2-0 lead. With two down, a double steal pushed the lead to 3-0.
 
The third started with an Olson single. He stole second and scored on a single by Argersinger. Brown hit a two-out single and UWSP led 5-0.
 
Brown began the sixth with a base on balls. Huber reached on a bunt single and Andrew Chapman (Waterford, Wis./Waterford Union) drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Martell hit a sac fly, but UWSP could only get one run in the frame.
 
The Falcons scored three in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6. UWRF walked off with two hits in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Bryce Ehr (Plover, Wis./SPASH) went 6.0 innings in the start and fanned seven. Jeremiah Jahnke (Winneconne, Wis./Winneconne) had one strikeout. Tyler Beyer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) had two strikeouts in an inning of work. Piscitello fanned one in the ninth.

The Pointers and Falcons will close out the series on Sunday (March 30) with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader in River Falls.