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Box Score 2 AUBURNDALE, FL – The Rowan University baseball team split a doubleheader with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Thursday.
The Profs won the first game, 4-0 and the Pointers took the second, 4-2. Both games lasted seven innings. Rowan is 6-5 on the season and #13/15 Wisconsin-Stevens Point has a 6-3 record.
Lefty Ryan Sharkey (sr. Rutherford, NJ/St. Mary) hurled a complete game shutout in game one. He (2-0) allowed 10 hits and struck out four. Right-hander Mark Kowalke (jr. Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) pitched all seven innings in the loss (0-2). He gave up two earned runs and seven hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Designated hitter Casey Grimes (sr. Gibbstown, NJ/Paulsboro) was two-for-three with one run scored. First baseman Steven Todd (jr. Millstone Twp., NJ/Allentown) recorded a double and a RBI. Third baseman Kevin McMenamin (sr. Maple Shade, NJ/Maple Shade) knocked in a run and crossed the plate one time.
Catcher Stephen Petriello (jr. South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) and left fielder Monny Strickland (fr. Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) each drove in a run. Right fielder Ryan Pavlik (sr. Blackwood, NJ/Highland Reg.) and shortstop Jason Clapper (so. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored one time apiece. Left fielder Cody Hanke (sr. Marathon, WI/Marathon) produced two hits for Wisconsin-Stevens Point while designated hitter Pete Strommen (jr. Madison, WI/East) had a double.
Rowan struck first in the fourth when Grimes came home on Petriello's groundout. Todd and Strickland both hit sacrifice flies in the sixth and the Profs had a 3-0 advantage. McMenamin added another sac fly in the seventh, which plated Pavlik.
Righty Kody McHugh (jr. Mosinee, WI/Mosinee) picked up the victory in the nightcap. He (2-0) went 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Right-handed pitcher Heinrich Walder (so. Rosholt, WI/Rosholt) threw the final 2.2 innings for his first save. Right-hander Matt Nelson (sr. Allentown, PA/Parkland) lasted 3.2 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Strommen was two-for-four with two runs batted in. First baseman Kyle McHugh (sr. Polonia, WI/Rosholt) had two hits and one run scored. Second baseman Ray Greco (fr. Downers Grove, IL/North) and Hanke each drove in a run. Shortstop Riley Spetz (sr. Sturgeon Bay, WI/Sevastopol), pinch runner/left fielder Tyler Thomka (so. Muskego, WI/Muskego) and third baseman Taylor Carlson (sr. Madison, WI/LaFollette) tallied one run apiece. Grimes recorded one RBI for Rowan while catcher Mike Ras (jr. Millstone Twp., NJ/Allentown) and Pavlik both crossed the plate.
Hanke opened the scoring with a RBI double in the first. Grimes evened the score in the bottom half of the inning with a single that plated Pavlik. Greco doubled in Carlson in the second and the Pointers led 2-1. The Profs knotted the score at two in the bottom of the frame when Ras came home on a wild pitch. Wisconsin-Stevens Point retook the lead in the third on a RBI single by Strommen. He added an insurance run in the seventh with a single.
In its last contest in Florida, Rowan faces defending national champion and top-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday, March 20 at 3 p.m. in Winter Haven.
