UUW-Stout 5, UW-Stevens Point 2 |
UW-Stout 4, UW-Stevens Point 3
MAUSTON (April 25, 2018) – Both UW-Stout starting pitchers worked at least eight innings,
Wyatt Ernstmeyer recorded two saves and the Blue Devils swept UW-Stevens Point, downing the Pointers, 5-2, 4-3, Wednesday at Woodside Sports Complex.
Jack Donahue worked the first game, going into the ninth inning with a 5-1 lead before he got in trouble and left with the bases loaded and one out.
Ernstmeyer came on and gave up a sacrifice fly for the second out, then got the final out on a fly ball to center field
Donahue scattered eight hits, struck out three and was tagged for only one earned run.
In the second game,
Brad Rindfleisch went eight innings, striking out five, including the first two batters of the game, gave way to Ernstmeyer in the top of the ninth with 4-2 lead.
The Pointers' Tommy Duddleston led off the ninth inning with a single, then moved to third on Ryan Stanicek's single. Stanicek stole second to put both runners in scoring position. Payton Nelson's sacrifice fly scored Duddleston to make it a one-run game, 4-3.
Ernstmeyer forced a groundout to second, which allowed Stanicek to move to third. But Ernstmeyer showed true senior mettle and struck out the final batter of the game looking.
With several fist pumps from Ernstmeyer, the Blue Devils were able to celebrate the rare sweep over the Pointers. Two weeks earlier, also at Woodside, the Pointers took a 10-1 decision and a 14-inning 4-1 win. Two years ago, Stout split the four-game series, but the single day sweep was a rarity.
Hemsath and
Jared Jarvensivu each went 2-of-4.
In the opener, the Pointers scored in the first inning. The day didn't start well for Donahue. On his first pitch of the day, he hit lead-off hitter Kyle Morzinski. Morzinski would come home on Nelson's single three batters later.
Stout scored in the bottom of the first to knot the game when
Jon Krueger's single was misplayed, allowing Krueger to go to third and
Jack Hemsath to score.
The Blue Devils got two more runs in the fourth and two more in the seventh.
The Pointers stranded 12 runners in the game, and did not score again until the ninth inning.
In the nightcap, Stout took a 2-0 lead on RBIs by
Jon Krueger and
Ben Vanhove in the first inning.
The Pointers got a run in the sixth and tied the game in the eighth. Stout took a 4-2 lead when
Max Sires and
Jordan Wilson drove in back-to runs.
Wilson, Sires and Vanhove each had two hits to lead Stout. Krueger had a hit in each game and has had at least one hit in 15 of the last 16 games.
The sweep is the first time the Blue Devils have swept the Pointers in a one-day series in at least 30 years. During the 2016 season, the Blue Devils split a four-game series with the Pointers.
Stout will play UW-Oshkosh Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 at Copeland Park in La Crosse.
