RIPON, Wisconsin – Despite taking a tie game to the seventh inning, the Ripon baseball program allowed a quartet of seventh-inning runs to UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday afternoon in a 6-5 loss at Francis Field.
Wednesday's game began as a pitchers' duel, as neither team scored for the first two innings. Stevens Point (13-12) got on the board in the third, pushing two early runs across. Ripon (10-15) cut its deficit in half in the fourth, as the Red Hawks scored their first run before recording their first hit. After
Evan Olson and
Jason Clark both reached via errors,
Kyler Hickman drove home Olson on a sacrifice fly. However, two runners were stranded to end the inning.
Ripon threatened again in the sixth – putting two runners on base with nobody out – and
Jack Anderson cashed in, tying the game with a two-out RBI single. However, the Pointers responded with an RBI single of their own in the top of the seventh to reclaim the lead. Then, UWSP hit a three-run homer to extend its advantage to 6-2.
Ripon would not go down quietly. Putting Olson and Clark aboard to lead off the eighth, consecutive run-scoring singles by Hickman and Anderson cut the Ripon deficit in half with nobody out. Then,
Brock Peterson recorded an RBI groundout to plate Hickman. However, a runner was stranded at second to end the inning and keep Point in front.
The Red Hawks went down in order in the ninth, falling to UW-Stevens Point for the first time since 2017.
Each team had six hits apiece, and Anderson had half of Ripon's – the junior went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in. Hanselman (1x5, run), Olson (1x2, 2 runs) and Hickman (1x3, 2 RBI, run) also had base hits.
Ryan Splitt got the first start of his career on the mound, going four innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs.
Antonio DeBartolo took the loss for Ripon, his first of the season, after throwing two innings and allowing one earned run.
NEXT UP: Ripon heads to Jacksonville, Illinois this weekend for a three-game set at Illinois College. The doubleheader on Friday, April 18 is set to begin at noon.
FOLLOW: Follow Ripon College Red Hawks Athletics on Facebook and @RiponRedHawks on Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to riponredhawks.com for all information, releases and schedules.