La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball dropped a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) to UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Pointers won the opener, 8-3, and the nightcap, 12-9.
UWL falls to 12-8 overall and 5-7 in the WIAC while UW-Stevens Point improves to 16-3 overall and 11-1 in the conference.
Each team scored a run in the first inning in the opener. Quin Henwood hit a home run for UW-Stevens Point while
Mac Born scored on
Jordan Williams' single for UWL. UW-Stevens Point tallied five runs in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Payton Nelson had the go-ahead RBI single in the inning while another runner scored on a UWL error on the play. Bradly Comer finished the scoring with a solo home run. The Pointers added solo runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Henwood's double in the eighth scored Lucas Luedtke while Comer added an RBI single in the ninth.
UWL scored twice in the bottom of the ninth on
Shane Coker singled with one out and went to second on a passed ball. After a strikeout,
Ethan Gerstner walked. Pinch-hitter
Andrew Rajkovich then doubled in both runs.
Eight different players recorded a hit for UWL.
Sawyer Phillips (3-2) took the loss, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing six hits, six runs and one walk while striking out eight.
UW-Stevens Point finished with 10 hits. Nelson went 3-for-5 with a run scored and RBI while Comer and Henwood each had two hits and two RBI. Caleb Krommenakker (3-0) earned the victory, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing three hits, one run and two walks while striking out four.
In the nightcap, UW-Stevens Point scored seven runs in the second inning. Comer hit a lead-off home run while Jacob Lillge later added a two-run double and Aaron Simmons hit a grand slam. UWL came back in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs on run-scoring singles by Rajkovich and
Spencer Hans.
The Pointers made it 8-2 with a run in the third on a Tommy Duddleston single. The Eagles cut it to 8-6 with four runs in the fourth, highlighted by a three-run home run from Gerstner.
Shane Coker later drew a bases-loaded walk, but UWL left three runners on the bases.
UW-Stevens Point scored three times in the fifth with Simmons hitting a two-run triple and Comer an RBI double. UWL made it 11-7 in the bottom of the frame on
Zach Carney's single, but the Eagles left the bases-loaded for the second time in the game.
The Pointers took a 12-7 lead in the sixth on Kyle Finger's solo home run. UWL scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on Coker's two-run single scoring Hans and Carney. The Eagles left 14 runners on base in the game.
UWL finished with 16 hits with six players recording at least two. Carney went 4-for-6 with two runs and an RBI while
Connor Roesler,
Brennan Schmitt, Rajkovich, Gerstner and Hans each had two. Coker and Gerstner had three RBI.
Jack Perinovic (1-1) took the loss, pitching 1.1 innings, allowing three hits, six runs and two walks with one strikeout. UWL used seven pitchers in the game.
UW-Stevens Point totaled 15 hits in the nightcap with Simmons, Comer and Lillge each having three. Simmons finished with six RBI and two runs while Comer had two RBI. Lillge finished with two runs and two RBI. Jacob Meinholz (2-0) earned the victory, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and one walk with one strikeout. Sidney Ferry picked up his second save, going 2.0 innings, allowing two hits with two strikeouts.
UWL returns to action Tuesday, April 20 at UW-Stout at 1 p.m.
