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WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – For eight and a half innings, it looked like Ripon was headed towards their second victory in this year’s Midwest Regional tournament. UW-Stevens Point had other ideas though, as they used a five run ninth inning to defeat the Red Hawks 11-10 and eliminate them from the competition.
Ripon’s offense exploded out of the gates, as the first three batters, Chad Olson, Kyle McFarland, and John Dunlavy, all singled. Dunlavy’s base knock drove in the first run of the game. The biggest blow of the inning came three batters later when Bo Johnson crushed his second home run of the season, a three-run shot, giving the Red Hawks an early four-run lead.
UW-Stevens Point (30-15) proved that their bats had some life in them as well, closing the gap with three runs in the bottom of the first. The Pointers led the inning off with a single and a home run to cut into the lead. After a fly out, they would go deep again to cut Ripon’s lead to one.
The second inning was a replay of the first with the top of Ripon’s order doing some damage. Dunlavy recorded his second RBI in as many innings with a single up the middle. Mac Shumann and Chevy Schultz would follow suit with RBI singles of their own for a 7-3 Red Hawk advantage. UW-Stevens Point then hit their third home run of the game in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to three.
Both offenses would ease up a bit after that. Ripon added another run in the fourth on Dunlavy’s third hit of the game, a solo home run to left field. The Pointers then got that run back in the fifth, thanks to a sacrifice fly.
With the wind blowing out, Ripon cranked their third home run of the game in the top of the sixth, as Chad Olson went yard with a solo shot, his third of the season. Chevy Schultz then drove in his second run of the day on a one-out single, for a 10-5 Ripon lead. The Pointers got a run back in the seventh, thanks to a lead off double, which was followed by a run-scoring single.
The Red Hawks headed into the bottom of the ninth, still leading 10-6, and UW-Stevens Point on the verge of elimination. With their backs against the wall, the Pointers rattled off five hits to start the inning, cutting the lead to two. They would cut that lead in half when a their batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in a run and keeping the bases juiced with two outs. The next batter quickly got behind in the count with two quick strikes, but the third strike one would never come. The Pointers singled on the next pitch, scoring two runners, and giving them the victory in dramatic fashion.
With the win, UW-Stevens Point moves on to play St. Thomas (MN) on Friday night. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Witter Field. Ripon’s season comes to a close with a 22-15 record, which included a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Regionals.
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