CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (WSAU) — It was a typical game for the No. 12 UW-Stevens Point baseball team (41-9) as the Pointers rallied for their 20th come-from-behind win with a 12-8 victory over Catholic (34-11) in an elimination game. UWSP clubbed three home runs and tied the school record for wins in a season.
Sidney Ferry (Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschooled) was dominant in a career-best 6.1 innings with four strikeouts and just one walk. He scattered six hits to earn his sixth win of the year.
Aaron Simmons (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) went 3-for-3 with three walks and hit his school-record-extending 21st home run of the year. He scored three times and had two RBI.
Anthony Tomczak (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) clubbed a momentum-changing three-run home run in the fifth. Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) had two hits and drove in four. Bradley Comer (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) hit a solo shot in the eighth as eight of the nine starters recorded a hit.
Simmons put the Pointers ahead in the first inning. He swapped a solo home run with one out to give UWSP a 1-0 lead.
That advantage disappeared with two outs in the bottom of the first. UWSP starter Casey Pickering (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) retired the first two batters, but three-straight hits capped by a three-run home run put the Pointers behind.
Catholic tacked on a run in the second turning a one-out walk into a tally. The Pointers got the run back in the third as Logan Matson (Neillsville, Wis./Neillsville) led off with a single. He moved to third on a single by Simmons. Nelson hit a sac fly, but UWSP could only get one in the inning.
The Cardinals extended their lead in the third with three runs on four hits and all the runs were unearned on three UWSP miscues in the frame.
The Pointers started to turn the momentum in the fifth. Matson led off with a single. Matt Baumann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) drew a walk as did Simmons to load the bases. Nelson drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice. Comer also reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners. Tomczak followed with a three-run shot as UWSP got within 7-6.
Quin Henwood (Appleton, Wis./North) was hit by a pitch to start the sixth. Jakob Boos (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) singled and Matson was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Baumann reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in the tying run as the bases remained loaded. Simmons drew another walk to push the go-ahead run home. Payton Nelson (Wausau, Wis./West) doubled to plate two more and a wild pitch later in the frame gave UWSP an 11-7 advantage.
In the eighth, Comer led off with a solo home run to up the UWSP lead to 12-7. The Cardinals got one in the ninth, but Ferry completed the solid outing for the win.
UWSP plays another elimination game this morning at 10:00 against Marietta, who fell to Salisbury in the winner’s bracket game.
