La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a doubleheader with UW-Stevens Point Friday night at Copeland Park. The Eagles won the opener, 6-4, while the Pointers took the nightcap, 4-3. UWL is now 18-14 overall and 6-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while UW-Stevens Point is 16-14 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

In the opener, Caleb Boushley (6-2) earned the win for UWL. He went 8.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs (three earned) and four walks while striking out eight. Boushley tied UWL's school record for career strikeouts with 193, tying the mark of Ben Cejka (2012-15).  

Caleb Willems picked up his fifth save of the season, pitching 1.0 inning with two strikeouts. 

UWL scored in the first five innings in Friday's opener, including single tallies in the first four frames. Carter Hoffman gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a two-out home run. Brennan Schmitt's sacrifice bunt scored Alex Robson in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 lead. A pair of two-out run-scoring hits gave UWL a 4-0 lead after four innings. Brady Stolzman's two-out single in the third made it 3-0 and in the fourth, Sam Prissel tripled with two outs and scored on Joel Zyhowski's RBI single. 

UW-Stevens Point cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth on Tommy Duddleston's sacrifice fly and Jordan Carlson scoring on a UWL throwing error. UWL got the runs right back in the bottom of the fifth as Nate Heili walked and scored on Stolzman's two-run home run for a 6-2 lead. Ryan Stanicek's solo home run for UW-Stevens Point in the top of the sixth cut the lead to 6-3 and his RBI single in the eighth made it 6-4, but the Pointers could get no closer. 

Cole Erickson (3-2) took the loss for UW-Stevens Point, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits, six runs and three walks. The Pointers totaled six hits as Stanicek went 4-for-4 with one run and two RBI.

UWL finished with nine hits in the opener as Hoffman, Stolzman, and Nate Roethle each had two. 
 

In the nightcap, UW-Stevens Point took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Ben Gerber scored on a balk. UWL scored twice in the bottom of the first on back-to-back RBI singles from Stolzman and Roethle to take a 2-1 lead. The Eagles added to their lead in the bottom of the second on Hoffman's two-out double scoring Connor Cook.  The Pointers cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the fifth on Gerber's two-out single knocking in Tyler Thomka. 

UW-Stevens Point rallied for two runs with two outs in the top of the eighth. William Iloncaie reached on a UWL throwing error and advanced to third on Stanicek's single, who went to second on the throw. Kyle Mrozinski followed with a two-run single to score both runs and give the Pointers a 4-3 lead. 

UWL loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth on two walks and an infield single, but Nathan Mulzer struck out Nate Heili and Alex Barnard to end the game.

Willems (1-3) took the loss for UWL, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing three hits and two runs (none earned). Jameson Lavery started for the Eagles, going 7.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six. UWL totaled 11 hits with Nick Pescheck and Hoffman each finishing with three. 

Beau Zeihen (2-0) earned the win for UW-Stevens Point, going 2.0 innings in relief, allowing two walks with two strikeouts. Mulzer picked up his first save, pitching 0.2 of an inning, allowing one hit while striking out two. The Pointers had seven hits with Gerber going 2-for-4.

The teams return to action Saturday, April 29 with a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.