Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team advanced to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship game (presented by Culver's) with a 8-5 victory over UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon at UW-Whitewater's Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium. With the win, UWL advances to the championship game versus third-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday at 3 p.m. The Eagles are now 27-16 on the season. UW-Stevens Point falls to 23-18 on the season.
The Eagles will need to earn two wins over the Warhawks Saturday to capture their fourth (2000, 2012, 2016) WIAC Championship in school history. UWL
UWL tallied five runs in the bottom of the second inning Saturday.
Sam Prissel's RBI groundout made it 1-0 while
Brennan Schmitt added a two-run double and
Joel Zyhowski a two-run home run in the inning. The Eagles added to their lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth on Zyhowski's single scoring
Nate Roethle.
UW-Stevens Point cut the lead to 6-3 with three runs (two unearned) in the bottom of the fifth. UWL responded in the bottom of the inning as
Nick Pescheck scored on a UW-Stevens Point error after he had tripled with two outs.
The Pointers cut the lead to 7-4 in the top of the sixth on Clint Rose's RBI groundout, but
Nate Heili's double scoring Schmitt gave the Eagles a 8-4 advantage. UW-Stevens Point finished the scoring on Ryan Stanicek's solo home run in the seventh. The Pointers loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth before
Brock Rude retired the final two batters of the game.
Mason McMahon (5-1) earned the win for UWL, pitching 5.2 innings, allowing six hits, four runs (two earned) and one walk while striking out seven. Rude picked up his second save of the season, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing one hit and one walk with one strikeout.
Zach Pronschinske went 2.1 innings in relief, allowing three hits, one run and two walks while striking out one.
The Eagles totaled 11 hits with Pescheck and Schmitt each finishing 3-for-4 with two runs. Schmitt also had two RBI. Zyhowski went 2-for-5 with one run and three RBI.
Chris Hetzel (2-1) suffered the loss for UW-Stevens Point, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing four hits, five runs and one walk with two strikeouts. The Pointers had 10 hits as Rose finished 3-for-5.
