Huskies Take on #23 Rowan on Monday (10:00 a.m.)

            LAKELAND, Fla. -- Senior Cody Hanke's (Marathon, Wis.) RBI single in the sixth inning snapped a 9-9 tie and the 10th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point hung on to defeat 8th-ranked University of Southern Maine, 11-9, in a battle of top ten teams Sunday afternoon at Henley Field.

            The victory was the second straight for the Pointers, and improved their record to 3-2 overall.  The Huskies fell to 5-2 with the loss.  The game featured 20 runs and 32 bases hits.

            Hanke's base hit came in the middle of a three-run rally in the top of the sixth inning after USM scored seven runs in the home half of the fifth to take an 8-7 lead.  Senior Jimmy Coady (La Crosse, Wis.) and Hanke had back-to-back RBI singles off losing pitcher Andrew Richards (South Portland, Maine), and junior Brandon Kranz (Waukesha, Wis.) added another RBI single off Richards to give the Pointers a 10-8 lead.

            USM fell behind 7-1 as UWSP scored an unearned run in the second, two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth.  In the fifth, Hanke hit a two-run homer, and Kranz and rookie Ray Greco (Downers Grove, Ill.) had back-to-back doubles.

            The Huskies rallied in the fifth scoring seven runs after two were out.  Junior Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) drove in the first run with a single, and sophomore Matt Bender (Walpole, Mass.) followed with a two-run double.  Rookie Anthony Capuano (Bangor, Maine) singled to put runner on the corners, and sophomore Jake Welch (Londonderry, N.H.) slammed a three-run homer to tie the game.

            Southern Maine took its only lead in the game after the Welch homer as sophomore Damon Wallace (Gorham, Maine) tripled and scored on an error when the ball was mishandled.

            After UWSP regained the lead in the sixth, USM sophomore Paul McDonough (Wells, Maine) hit a two-out solo home run to make it 10-9.

            UWSP added an insurance run in the eighth as Coady, who led off the inning being hit by a pitch, scored on a two-out single by sophomore Tyler Thomka (Muskego, Wis.).

            Southern Maine did not go quietly loading the bases in the ninth with one out.  Dexter had a one-out double, and Bender and Capuano both walked to load the sacks.  However, senior Mitch Beau (Fond du Lac, Wis.), the fourth UWSP hurler of the day, got the next two hitters to earn a shaky save.

            Dexter and McDonough led USM's 14-hit attack.  McDonough had a homer and two singles while Dexter had a double and two singles.  Bender had two doubles, and Capuano had a pair of singles.

            Coady and Hanke had three hits apiece to lead the Pointers' 18-hit offense.  Kranz, Greco, seniors Riley Spetz (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) and Kyle McHugh (Polonia, Wis.), and sophomore Ben Gerber (Stoughton, Wis.) had two hits apiece.

            UWSP rookie hurler Ben Miller (Union Grove, Wis.) picked up his first collegiate win with 1 1/3 innings pitched in relief.  Richards absorbed his first loss after two victories.

            Southern Maine is back in action tomorrow (10:00 a.m.) taking on 23rd-ranked Rowan University at lake Myrtle Field in Auburndale, Fla.  After an off day on Monday, UWSP will play Rutgers-Camden on Tuesday (3:00 p.m.) at Lake Myrtle Field. 

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