La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned three wins over seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point Wednesday at Copeland Park.  The Eagles took the opener, 7-6, in a game that was halted due to lightning and rain April 7.  UW-L then earned a 4-3 victory in the first game of the originally scheduled doubleheader and finished the day with a 5-4 win in eight innings in the nightcap. 

The Eagles improve to 15-7 overall and 8-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers fall to 16-8 overall and 7-5 in the conference.  UW-Stevens Point is ranked seventh on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll while UW-L is receiving votes. 

UW-Stevens Point took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning in Wednesday's opening contest.  Cody Hanke scored on a fielder's choice with the based loaded for the first run of the game and the Pointers added two unearned runs after an Eagles' fielding error.  UW-Stevens Point made it 4-0 in third after Kyle McHugh scored on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Coady. 

UW-L answered back in the bottom of the third with a two-out rally, producing three unearned runs.  A UW-Stevens Point fielding error on Travis Buxton-Verstegen's at-bat allowed Justin Anderson to score from third to cut the lead to 4-1.  Alex Cordova followed with a triple scoring Buxton-Verstegen and Nic Barnes doubled to score Cordova as the Eagles pulled within 4-3.
 
UW-Stevens Point scored one run in the top of the fifth to make it 5-3.  McHugh was hit-by-pitch to lead-off the inning, and later scored on Ray Greco's fielder's choice. In the bottom of the seventh, UW-L made it 5-4 after Anderson was hit-by-pitch, and advanced to third on two wild pitches.  He later scored on a RBI groundout by Cordova.
 
The Pointers added another unearned run in the top of the eighth to take a 6-4 lead as pinch-runner Sawyer Schultz scored on another Eagles' fielding error. 
 
In the bottom of the eighth, the Eagles finally took the lead, scoring all three runs with two outs.  Joel Zyhowski singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Taylor Kohlwey followed with a walk before Bryce Barsness flied out for the second out of the inning.  Anderson was hit-by-pitch for the third time in the game to load the bases and Ben Morgan's double to right-center field drove in all three runs for a 7-6 UW-L lead.

Jake Stern (1-1) picked up the victory for the Eagles, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing one hit, one run (unearned) and one walk.  Jameson Sadowske picked up his sixth save of the season, retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth.  Caleb Boushley started for the Eagles, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing five hits, five runs (three earned) and two walks while striking out three.

Cordova and Barnes had two hits each for UW-L, with Morgan driving in three runs and Cordova adding two RBI.  Anderson scored three runs.
 
Heinrich Wlader (0-2) took the loss for UW-Stevens Point, giving up three runs in 2.0 innings of work with one walk and one strikeout.  Mark Kowalke started for the Pointers, going 6.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs (one earned) and five walks while striking out eight.  Coady had two hits and an RBI. 
 
UW-L took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in the second game of the day as Barnes singled to drive in Kohlwey.  The Eagles increased their lead to 2-0 on a solo home run by Anderson to lead-off the bottom of the fourth and a Barsness RBI single knocked in Kohlwey in the fifth for a 3-0 advantage. 

The Pointers scored in each of the next three innings to tie the game at 3-3. Ben Gerber was hit-by-pitch to start the sixth inning and advanced to second on a groundout.  He moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a RBI sacrifice fly by Bobby Gregorich to cut the lead to 3-1.  Coady doubled to open the seventh and later scored on an RBI groundout from Greco to make it 3-2 and UW-Stevens Point tied the contest in the top of the eighth with an unearned run as Spetz scored on a steal attempt from Hanke.

UW-L earned its second straight final at-bat win in the bottom of the ninth.  Eric Vatch walked to lead-off the inning and Seth Feldman's sacrifice bunt moved Vatch to second.  Cordova singled through the left side of the infield and advanced to second on an error while Vatch advanced to third on the play.  An intentional walk to Kohlwey loaded the bases and Vatch scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles a 4-3 victory. 

Sadowske (1-0) picked up the win for the Eagles, going 2.0 innings, allowing one hit and one run (unearned) while striking out two.  Ben Cejka went 7.0 innings for UW-L, giving up three hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks with two strikeouts. 

Eight players had a base hit for UW-L, with Barsness finishing 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.  Anderson's home run was his first of the season. 

Alex Thompson (1-1) took the loss for the Pointers, going 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, one run and two walks.  Kody McHugh started for UW-Stevens Point, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and four walks with three strikeouts.  Greco had a hit and RBI. 

In the nightcap, scheduled for seven innings, UW-L tallied four times in the bottom of the third.  With one out, Vatch walked and Zyhowski was hit-by-pitch before Cordova drove them both in with a double to left center for a 2-0 lead.  Three straight walks to Kohlwey, Morgan amd Anderson plated Cordova to make it 3-0, and Kohlwey later scored on a Barsness' fielder's choice to give UW-L a 4-0 lead. 

A UW-L fielding error and a passed ball helped UW-Stevens Point get on the board in the top of the fourth as Greco scored on Gerber's RBI single to cut the lead to 4-1.  The Pointers tied the game with three runs in the top of the sixth, all coming with two outs.  Taylor Carlson walked with two outs followed by a single from pinch-hitter Brandon Kranz, who was then replaced by pinch-runner Bryton Guckenberg.  Gerber was hit-by-pitch to load the bases and Riley Spetz followed with a three-run double to left center to tie the game.

The game remained tied at 4-4 until the bottom of the eighth.  Buxton-Verstegen tripled with two outs for the Eagles and was replaced by pinch-runner Carter Hoffman.  Barnes then drove in Hoffman with a single down the left field line to give UW-L its third final at-bat win of the day.

Sadowske (2-0) picked up his second win of the day for UW-L to go along with a save in the first game.  He pitched 2.1 innings in the third game, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.  Jameson Lavery started, going 5.2 innings, allowing nine hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks while striking out two.

Cordova finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.

Mitch Beau (3-1) suffered the loss for UW-Stevens Point, pitching 1.2 innings in relief.  He allowed two hits and one run with two strikeouts.  Ben Miller started for the Pointers, going 3.0 innings, allowing two hits, four runs and five walks while striking ou three.

Spetz, Gregorich and McHugh each finished 2-for-4 with Spetz recording three RBI.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, April 18 hosting UW-Stout in a doubleheader at Copeland Park starting at noon.