UW-Whitewater took an early lead against UW-Stevens Point on Friday in their second game of the WIAC tournament, but a six-run sixth inning by the Pointers was too much for the Warhawks to overcome as they lost 7-5 on Friday in Wisconsin Rapids. The Warhawks will need to win three consecutive games on Saturday to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. UW-W post-season website
Box Score
The Warhawks threatened in the top of the second when undefeated right-hander Travis Kempf (sr, rhp) hit three batters to load the bases. However, the Warhawks were unable to score as Kempf got the final batter of the inning to fly out.
The Warhawks got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when Jordan Stine (Merrill/Merrill) reached first base on an error. Stine later scored on a sacrifice hit by Mike Kenseth (Milwaukee/West Allis Hale) for the Warhawks to take a 1-0 lead.
Designated hitter Matt Schliewe (Horicon/Horicon) hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to give UW-W a 2-0 lead. The home run is Schliewe's third of the season.
Aaron Dott (Green Lake/Green Lake) struck out five and did not allow a hit until the bottom of the fifth when Brad Frank (sr, 1b) hit his eleventh home run of the season to cut the Warhawks' lead in half.
In the bottom of the sixth, UW-Stevens Point scored a run on a high chopper with the bases loaded to tie the game. With two outs and runners on second and third, Frank hit a blooper that dropped into right center to score another run and give the Pointers their first lead of the game. Tim Schlosser (sr, 2b) and Ben Warwick (sr, c) followed by hitting back-to-back home runs, Schlosser's with two men on, to give Stevens Point a 7-2 lead. #Jason Hooper (Lake Mills/Lake Mills)# came on for the Warhawks to get the final out as he was able to strike out Stewart Larsen (sr, 3b).
The Warhawks' Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/Wauwatosa East) scored a run in the top of the seventh on a throwing error by UW-SP to make the score 7-3. A double by Ben Prather (Chicago, IL/James B. Conant) scored two more to trim the deficit to two. The hit extended Prather's hitting streak to fourteen games. With no outs and runners on second and third the Pointers were able to get UW-W to fly-out, strike-out, and pop-out to end the inning.
With their final shot in the top of the ninth the Warhawks were unable to come back to keep the game going. The Warhawks (34-7) move on to face UW-Oshkosh (29-8) at noon on Saturday while UW-Stevens Point (27-14) will await the winner of that game. The winner of the game between UW-W and UW-O will play UW-SP at 3:00. Should Stevens Point lose, another game will be played to determine the winner of the conference tournament.
The winner of the WIAC tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA national tournament. The Warhawks won the conference tournament in 2003 and 2004.
For additional information:
UW-W baseball website
WIAC tournament website
