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RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College and UW-Stevens Point entered Wednesday's clash with both perennial powers ranked in the NCBWA/D3baseball.com top 25 poll. During the doubleheader, the 23rd ranked Red Hawks and 21st ranked Pointers each showed that they belong in the rankings, splitting a pair of games at Ripon's Francis Field. Both games were hard fought by both sides, with UW-Stevens Point taking the first game 4-2 in 11 innings, and Ripon getting even in game two, with a 7-4 victory.
The first game of the day started out as if it may be a high scoring affair, with half of the combined six runs coming in the first two innings. UW-Stevens Point (24-11) got on the board first, with a two-out double by Doug Coe, which scored Jared Surman from first. Ripon (24-5) got even in the bottom of the first, thanks to a two-out hit of their own. Mac Shumann ripped a single to center field, allowing Nick Beaman to score and tie the game at one.
The Pointers took the lead again in the second, this time on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. That put runners on the corners with only one out, but Ripon freshman Bob Bruce settled down after that, getting out of the inning trailing by a single run.
The two teams went scoreless for the next four innings, until the bottom of the seventh, which was started with singles from Brett Wegner and Matt Dwyer to lead off the inning. Wegner would eventually cross the plate on a sacrifice fly from Beaman, tying the game at two.
The score would stay the same, into extra innings, until UW-Stevens Point scored twice in the top of the 11th. Eric Fritz and Brad Archambeau each had RBI singles in the inning, to give them the victory.
Nick Whitty led all Red Hawks in the first game with three hits, while Wegner and Dwyer collected two base knocks. Bruce pitched nine innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three in just his second career start. Mike Lloyd (5-3) came on in relief, but took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs in two innings of work.
Ripon took their first lead of the day in the second inning of game two, breaking a scoreless tie with a single by John Henrickson, scoring Whitty from third.
UW-Stevens Point answered with two runs in the top of the fourth on Brad Frank's ninth home run of the season. That didn't phase the Red Hawks however, as they came back with five runs in the bottom of that inning. The inning was started with a single by Wegner, who promptly stole second, and scored on another single from Henrickson to tie the score at two. Ripon then took loaded the bases, setting the table for Shumann, who cranked a double to the wall, clearing the bases and giving the Red Hawks the lead for good. Shumann later scored on a wild pitch to give Ripon a 6-2 lead.
The two teams traded runs in the next couple innings, and UW-Stevens Point added another in the ninth, but it was not enough, as Ripon earned their biggest regional win thus far.
Henrickson and Bryant Bullock were the only two Red Hawks to record multiple hits in the second game, each with two. Wegner scored twice, while Shumann, Henrickson, and Scott Gillespie recorded three, two, and one RBI, respectively. Freshman Kurt Roeder (2-0) pitched a complete game for the win, allowing four runs on 13 hits and striking out five batters in just the second start of his career.
Ripon will continue their tough late-season schedule this weekend, when they'll wrap up their conference season against St. Norbert College. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 12:00 p.m. in DePere, while Sunday's twin-bill will begin at Noon in Ripon. The Red Hawks currently lead St. Norbert by one game in the conference standings, which means a sweep of the Green Knights on Saturday will wrap up the Midwest Conference North Division title for Ripon.
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