Midwest Regional - Game 13 - May 20, 2006
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Facing elimination for the ninth time in the past week, the UW-Stevens Point baseball team pulled out another incredible rally through the loser’s bracket on Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids’ Witter Field, defeating Ripon twice on the final day of the NCAA Division III regional to advance to next week’s World Series in Appleton.
The Pointers hung on for a 7-4 win in the opener and then used a two-run homer from Chuck Brehm in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game for a 6-4 win. UW-Stevens Point is now 34-16 and makes its second trip to the World Series, having also appeared in 1997. The Pointers will take on Marietta (Ohio) in the opening round on Friday at 7:45 p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium.
Top-seeded Ripon ended its year 34-7 and won 30 of its last 34 games with all four losses coming to UW-Stevens Point, which also swept the Red Hawks in a regular season doubleheader on April 25.
The Pointers lost their opening game of the regional and then won five straight games, including two victories on both Friday and Saturday. The run came on the heels of last weekend when the team won four straight games after an opening round loss in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on the same field.
“I’d like to know another team in the country that’s done what we’ve done,” UW-Stevens Point coach Pat Bloom said. “We’ve got great kids with great character and great resolve.” “When our back’s against the wall, we just bear down and find a way to get it done,” Brehm said. “We all have so much confidence in ourselves and each other that we know we can get it done.”
Pointers’ pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw a complete game in the second victory, matching a single-game school record with 15 strikeouts. The sophomore allowed just five hits and four runs on two days rest, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He had 13 strikeouts in the team’s opening round loss to St. Scholastica on Wednesday. In fact, the record strikeout total marked the third time in the last 19 games that a UW-Stevens Point pitcher had 15 strikeouts.
“I was planning on getting it started and going as long as I could,” said Zimmermann, who totaled 25 and two-thirds innings over the last eight days. “In about the seventh or eighth, adrenaline just took over.”
Brehm, who was three-for-20 in the tournament entering the second game, hit two home runs and finished three-for-four to lead the Pointers. In fact, all of the game’s runs were scored on home runs as catcher Eric Schwendimann provided all of Ripon’s offense with a solo home run in the second inning and a three-run shot that put the Red Hawks ahead 4-2 in the sixth.
UW-Stevens Point got solo homers from Adam Evanoff in the second and Brehm in the fourth. Brandon Scheidler then tied the game in the seventh with a two-run blast to centerfield.
The Pointers missed a golden chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Jake Frombach doubled after Scheidler’s homer and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt with nobody out. However, Red Hawks’ pitcher Andy Kemped used two groundouts and a fly ball to escape the jam.
In the eighth, Evanoff was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Brehm pulled back a bunt attempt on the first pitch and Schwendimann attempted to pick off Evanoff at first base. The throw sailed into right field, allowing Evanoff to reach second. Brehm then opted to swing away and drilled a long home run over the scoreboard in right-center field for the game-winner.
The win came in the Pointers’ second straight trip to the regional final and third in five years. Ripon made its second regional final appearance, falling short of the World Series in the 2001 final.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Ripon 4 (34-7) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Chad Olson 2b............ 3 1 0 0 1 3 3 2 1 Andy Monigal cf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 Tyler Haddock p/dh....... 3 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 Eric Schwendiman c....... 4 2 2 4 0 1 5 0 0 Chevy Schultz rf......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 Kyle McFarland ss........ 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 1 Bo Johnson 1b............ 4 0 1 0 0 0 11 0 0 Mac Shumann 3b........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 1 Bob Abel lf.............. 4 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 Greg Basthemer p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Andy Kempen p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bryant Bednarek p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 32 4 5 4 3 15 24 12 5 UW-Stevens Point 6 (34-16) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Jake Frombach ss......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Nat Richter 2b........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 Ryan Byrnes lf........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Doug Coe c............... 4 0 1 0 0 0 16 0 3 Adam Evanoff 1b.......... 3 2 1 1 0 1 6 0 0 Chuck Brehm cf........... 4 2 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 Tim Schlosser dh......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 Stewart Larsen 3b........ 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 Brandon Scheidler rf..... 4 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 Jordan Zimmermann p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 35 6 10 6 0 4 27 5 6 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Ripon............... 010 003 000 - 4 5 4 UW-Stevens Point.... 010 100 22X - 6 10 0 ------------------------------------------- E - Monigal; Schwendiman; Shumann; Kempen. LOB - RC 5; UWSP 6. 2B - Frombach(10). HR - Schwendiman 2(7); Evanoff(5); Brehm 2(15); Scheidler(5). HBP - Schultz; Evanoff. Ripon IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Tyler Haddock....... 6.0 6 2 2 0 2 25 25 Greg Basthemer...... 0.0 2 2 2 0 0 2 2 Andy Kempen......... 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 5 6 Bryant Bednarek..... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 UW-Stevens Point IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Jordan Zimmermann... 9.0 5 4 4 3 15 32 36 Win - Zimmermann (5-4). Loss - Kempen (6-2). Save - None. HBP - by Zimmermann (Schultz); by Kempen (Evanoff). Umpires - HP: Andre Lanoue 1B: Robin Johnson 2B: Steve Reinhardt 3B: Gary Kalkopf Start: 4:10 pm Time: 1:41 Attendance: 750 Game notes: Game 13...UWSP advances to NCAA Division III World Series for second time (also 1997)...RC won 30 of last 34 games with all four losses to UWSP... UWSP's Zimmermann ties school's single game strikeout record and named Regional MVP...UWSP's Brehm hit two-run homer to break 4-4 tie in eighth. Basthemer faced 2 batters in the 7th. Kempen faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Ripon............... 010 003 000 - 4 5 4 UW-Stevens Point.... 010 100 22X - 6 10 0 ------------------------------------------- Ripon starters: 3/2b Olson; 27/cf Monigal; 50/p Haddock; 4/c Schwendiman; 25/rf Schultz; 15/ss McFarland; 34/1b Johnson; 7/3b Shumann; 11/lf Abel; UW-Stevens Point starters: 4/ss Frombach; 6/2b Richter; 21/lf Byrnes; 15/c Coe; 22/1b Evanoff; 8/cf Brehm; 13/dh Schlosser; 17/3b Larsen; 20/rf Scheidler; 12/p Zimmermann; Ripon 1st - Olson struck out. Monigal struck out. Haddock struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 1st - Frombach flied out to lf. Richter singled to second base, bunt. Byrnes flied out to rf. Coe flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Ripon 2nd - Schwendiman homered to center field, RBI. Schultz struck out. McFarland singled to third base. Johnson grounded out to ss; McFarland advanced to second. Shumann grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 2nd - Evanoff homered to center field, RBI. Brehm grounded out to 3b. Schlosser singled to center field. Larsen reached on a fielder's choice; Schlosser out at second ss to 2b. Scheidler grounded out to p. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Ripon 3rd - Abel struck out. Olson struck out looking. Monigal lined out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 3rd - Frombach grounded out to 3b. Richter flied out to rf. Byrnes reached on a fielding error by 3b. Coe grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Ripon 4th - Haddock struck out looking. Schwendiman grounded out to 3b. Schultz hit by pitch. McFarland lined out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 4th - Evanoff grounded out to 2b. Brehm homered to right field, RBI. Schlosser popped up to 1b. Larsen struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Ripon 5th - Johnson grounded out to 3b. Shumann struck out. Abel struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 5th - Scheidler grounded out to ss. Frombach grounded out to 2b. Richter fouled out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Ripon 6th - Olson walked. Monigal fouled out to c, bunt. Haddock singled to right field; Olson advanced to second. Schwendiman homered to left field, 3 RBI; Haddock scored; Olson scored. Schultz struck out looking. McFarland struck out. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 6th - Byrnes popped up to 2b. Coe singled down the lf line. Evanoff struck out looking. Brehm singled to left field; Coe advanced to second. Schlosser reached on a fielder's choice; Brehm out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Ripon 7th - Johnson singled to center field. Shumann flied out to rf. Abel struck out. Olson struck out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 7th - Haddock to dh. Basthemer to p. Larsen singled to center field, advanced to second on a fielding error by cf. Scheidler homered to center field, 2 RBI; Larsen scored. Kempen to p for Basthemer. Frombach doubled to left field. Frombach advanced to third on an error by p, failed pickoff attempt. Richter grounded out to ss. Byrnes grounded out to 3b. Coe flied out to cf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Ripon 8th - Monigal popped up to 2b. Haddock walked. Schwendiman struck out. Schultz grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. UW-Stevens Point 8th - Evanoff hit by pitch. Evanoff advanced to second on a throwing error by c, failed pickoff attempt. Brehm homered to right center, 2 RBI; Evanoff scored. Bednarek to p for Kempen. Schlosser struck out. Larsen grounded out to p. Scheidler struck out. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB. Ripon 9th - McFarland grounded out to p, bunt. Johnson flied out to rf. Shumann walked. Abel struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Updated May 2006