The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball completed the conference sweep over the Pointers with two more wins on Sunday. In game one, the Warhawks hit back-to-back solo home runs to take the lead in the bottom of the 8th. In the second game of the day, UWW's bats got going early, scoring nine runs in the first inning on their way to a 17-3 run-rule win.
UW-Stevens Point started the scoring in game one with a two-run homer out of the gates.
Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) was able to hit his own long ball in the bottom of the inning to get UWW on the board.
The Pointers added two more runs with another homer in the second, taking a 4-1 lead. The Warhawks were able to erase the gap, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.
Jackson Spring (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) hit a two-run shot, with
Brady Gilroy (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) hitting a double to help score
Maddux Hibbard (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) & tie the game up at four a piece.
The Warhawks took a brief lead, holding UWSP scoreless in the third. Hopper had the RBI single to put UWW up 5-4. The Pointers answered back by keeping the bases moving & recording back-to-back groundout RBIs to take a 6-5 lead.
UWW went scoreless for the first time in the game in the bottom of the fourth. UWSP capitalized and added an insurance run with a solo home run in the fifth.
The Warhawks were retired in order in the fifth, but
Benjy Tucker (Alpharetta, Ga./Mount Pisgah) kept the Pointers from adding more insurance with a two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning.
Kelli Grennier cut the deficit to just one with an RBI single in the 6th. But the 7th inning didn't see any movement with both sides retired in order.
Tucker added five more Ks to his line in the 8th, setting up the comeback win in the 8th.
Evan Olson (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) led off the inning with a home run to tie the game, a home run that was assisted by the glove of the Pointer left fielder. Kelli Grennier was the Warhawk hero, hitting the go ahead homer to put UWW up 8-7.
Tucker forced two flyouts, but
Gradin Taschner (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) came in to get the last out and earn the save against the Pointers in the third game of the series.
The Warhawks carried the momentum into game two, starting with a nine run first inning to set the tone in the final game.
Brady Gilroy (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) led off with a solo homer, & eventually had another RBI in his second plate appearance in the inning.
In the high-scoring first inning, Dominic McVay had a two-RBI double and
Evan Olson (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) had a two-RBI triple.
Leyten Bowers (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point),
Danny Hopper (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), and
Lincoln Ascher (Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine) each had single RBI hits to keep passing the bat.
The Warhawks kept things moving in the second, with Gilroy tallying another RBI double followed by a three-run homer from
Andy Thies (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) for the Warhawks to take a 13-0 lead after just two innings.
UWSP scored their first runs of the game in the 5th, but the Warahwks put another crooked number up in the bottom of the frame to eliminate the runs.
Brett Sommer (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) had a pinch-hit RBI, then
Jackson Spring (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) had an RBI ground-out.
The Warhawks put 17 up the board with two more in the sixth.
Leyten Bowers (Mineral Point, Wis./Mineral Point) had an RBI triple, then
Maddux Hibbard (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) scored on a wild pitch to take a 17-2 lead. UW-Stevens Point hit a solo home run in the 7th, but the Warhawks got the out for the 7-inning win.
Ben Lee (Amherst, Wis./Amherst) picked up the win on the mound in game two, going 4.0 innings with six strikeouts.
The Warhawks finish out the series against UW-Stevens Point 4-0. UWW will continue conference play against UW-La Crosse with a four-game series starting on Friday, April 3rd.
