Sports
The Pointers split games against UW-Oshkosh in a double-header Wednesday.
Pointer pitching mounts losses in WIAC play
The Pointer
bhaig870@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point baseball team enters its fourth week of conference play with a 19-9 overall record, 7-5 in the WIAC conference, good enough for a second place position. UW-SP has dominated over two of its WIAC competitors, UW-Stout and UW-Lacrosse, only losing once to UW-Stout 6-8 in game one of a doubleheader. However, the Pointers have hit a bump in WIAC play recently, losing four consecutive games to UW-Whitewater.
“We have good kids and they’re resilient, but they’re still learning mentally and physically what it takes to put together two solid games of baseball together in one day,” said UW-SP men’s baseball head coach Pat Bloom.
In UW-SP’s April 15 loss to UW-Stout, starting pitcher Kyle Barry allowed six runs, five earned in four innings of work, recording only two strikeouts. Scott Williams then came on to pitch four innings in relief, allowing two runs on two hits while Tyler Lorenz came in for the ninth, allowing one hit in the close.
UW-SP’s losses to Whitewater also demand a closer look at the pitching. During the alumni/senior weekend, UW-SP had two consecutive doubleheaders, although the Sunday outing was cancelled due to rain. In game one of the April 4th doubleheader, Joel Delorit took the loss for the Pointers, giving up five runs on five hits, four earned. He struck out four in 5.2 innings of work. Tyler Lorenz came on to pitch the final 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits, striking out three. In game two of the doubleheader, Eric Van Beck picked up the loss for the Pointers, going two innings and letting in two runs . Jeff Zielke also pitched 2.2 innings, letting in four runs, while Brandon Hemstead let in one run and Garret Nix pitched five innings, letting in two runs.
After the rain cancellation, the Pointers picked up two more losses to UW-Whitewater, as the Pointer baseball team couldn’t hold onto a 4-0 lead in game one or a 3-0 lead in game two as UW-Whitewater won the pair of games by a 7-5 margin in the April 6 doubleheader. Barry picked up another loss in game one of the doubleheader after going 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out six. Williams was charged with the loss in the second game of the doubleheader after giving up four earned runs over 7.1 innings of work. UW-Whitewater’s Aaron Dott struck out 11 in a complete game effort for Whitewater.
“The Whitewater losses were disappointing in that we gave up too many runs. Our pitching and defense needs to remain a constant for us, and our pitchers too often this year have fallen out of sync and have been inconsistent, especially in big games,” said Bloom.
In UW-SP’s April 15 loss to UW-Stout, starting pitcher Barry allowed six runs, five earned in four innings of work, recording only two strikeouts. Williams then came on to pitch four innings in relief, allowing two runs on two hits while Lorenz came in for the ninth, allowing one hit in the close.
