Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon proved that they can hang with some of the best talent in the country Wednesday afternoon, but weren't able to come out on top, losing both games of a doubleheader to 15th-ranked UW-Stevens Point. The Red Hawks lost the first game 7-2, as they never led in the contest, but dropped the second game 7-3 after tying the score in the sixth inning.

UW-Stevens Point (24-9) jumped on the board early, scoring three times in game one's opening inning. Kyle McHugh drove in the game's first run on a sac fly, scoring Riley Spetz, who opened the game with a single. Bobby Gregorich then drove in two more with a double to center field.

Ripon (17-13) would get on the board on a Bradley Knoblock RBI single the following inning, but the Pointers tacked on two more in the top of the third. Ripon scored their only other run on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the third, but left three runners stranded in the inning.

The Pointers settled down from there, allowing just three Ripon hits during the final six innings. UW-Stevens Point scored insurance runs in the fourth and eighth innings.

The Red Hawks finished with six hits, with Knoblock and Mitchell Busch recording two apiece. Michael Anderson (0-2) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on 12 hits in seven innings of work.

UW-Stevens Point was led by Jimmy Coady, who went 3-for-4 at the dish with two runs scored. Zach Wendorf (2-1) earned the win, pitching five innings of two-hit ball, while striking out four.

The second game began much like the first with UW-Stevens Point scoring two runs in the top of the first. They added another run in the third and just when it looked like they would coast to victory, Ripon rallied in the middle innings. Nick Schmitt got the Red Hawks on the board in the fourth inning with a solo home run, his third of the season. Ripon then tied things up in the fifth on RBI doubles by Nick Uhen and Tom Sawyer.

That lead didn't last long, as McHugh belted a two-run homer in the top of the sixth, giving the Pointers the lead for good. UW-Stevens Point added an RBI single in both the seventh and eighth innings to cap the scoring.

Schmitt and Uhen each had two of Ripon's six hits, with five of the team's hits going for extra bases. Ryan Maier (0-2) suffered the loss, despite allowing zero earned runs on one hit (the two-run homer) in one inning of action. Maier also struck out two of the five batters that he faced.

UW-Stevens Point was led by Brandon Kranz, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while McHugh scored three times in additiojn to his two RBI. Tyler Flood (1-2) earned the victory, allowing just one hit in his 4.1 scoreless innings, while striking out three.

The Red Hawks will wrap up their regular season with a four-game set against Beloit College this weekend, needing to win just one of those four to claim hosting rights for the Midwest Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season. Saturday's doubleheader at Beloit will begin at 1 p.m. with LiveStats available at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal.