Pointer swimming, diving team finishes sixth in nationals The Pointers finished in sixth place at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships held in Buffalo, NY last weekend. The Pointers accumulated 192 points. Kenyon College won its 22nd straight national title with 669 points. Senior Randy Boelk (Embarass, Minn.) ended his career as a Pointer in style. Boelk recorded a top five finish in six of the seven events in which he participated. Individually, Boelk was second in the 100-yard backstroke (:49.85), second in the 200-yard backstroke (1:48.91), and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:52.24). All three of the four Pointer relays finished in the top five. The 200 freestyle relay team and the 400 freestyle relay team each placed second. The 200 freestyle relay team of Boelk, John Green, Eric Sands, and Nick Hansen was first after the preliminary race, and lowered their time in the final, but still placed second. The 200 medley relay placed fifth, while the 400 medley relay team was seventh. Anthony Harris (St. Paul, Minn.) swam :51.51 in the final of the 100-yard butterfly and finished eighth. John Green (Madison) was the last qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle, but bounced back to win the consolation final race in :21.02 and place ninth overall. In diving, Chris Hansman (Neenah) finished 14th in the three-meter event and 20th in the one-meter competition. Baseball The Pointers were 2-2 in their first two days at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Pointers opened their season on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Bethel College (Minn.). Jeff Pieper, a sophomore, pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits while striking out one and walking one for his third career shutout. The Pointers scored in the first inning as Mike McCann led off the game with a double and scored when Matt Peetz reached on an error. UW-SP added two more runs in the second on a two-run single by Randy Reed through a drawn-in infield. Bethel earned a split in the second game with a 10-8 victory. Bethel scored six runs in the first inning and overcame an 8-6 Pointer lead for the win. The Pointers also split a pair with Allegheny College, losing the opener, 3-2, and winning a dramatic nightcap, 7-6, in nine innings. In the opener, Troy Bielmeier surrendered just five hits, but four came in a three-run fifth inning as the Gators rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the win. Bielmeier struck out none and walked one in a complete game. Eric Bennett's bases loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a second UW-SP rally and lifted the Pointer baseball team to a dramatic 7-6 victory in the second game. Each team scored four runs in the seventh inning to send the game to extras at 5-5. Allegheny regained the lead with a run in the top of the ninth, but Jared Barker drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the inning. Jagler then singled Barker to third and Paul Molitor hit a game-tying sacrifice fly. Pat McCann singled Jagler to second and Ryan Ivy singled to left, but Jagler was thrown out at the plate for the second out. Molski walked to load the bases and Bennett took a 3-2 pitch in the dirt to force in the game-winning run. The Pointers' Monday games were canceled due to rain. The Pointers had a doubleheader scheduled against Fontbonne (Mo.) on Wednesday, but results were unavailable. Softball The Pointers enter the season ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division III preseason poll and open with 10 games in Fort Myers, Fla. Stacy Karls had a two-run single in the top of the seventh inning to give the UW-Stevens Point softball team a 3-1 season-opening victory over Hillsdale (Mich.) Tuesday in Fort Myers, Fla. The Pointers also won their second game of the day as Sarah Berg went four-for-four in an 8-0 six-inning win over Keene State (N.H.). In the opener, the game was tied 1-1 in the seventh and the Pointers had the bases loaded with one out when Karls hit a bloop fly over first base to score two runs. Karen Guckenberger supplied the defense with six strikeouts in a five-hitter. UW-SP's Kelly Rutta gave the Pointers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when her two-out fly ball was dropped, allowing her to reach second. Rutta stole third on the following pitch and then scored on a wild pitch on the next pitch. Hillsdale, a Division II scholarship school, tied the game in the fourth inning and had its five hits in five different innings. Nicki Bertram allowed just three hits in five innings to earn the victory over Keene State. Bertram struck out three before giving way to Guckenberger, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning with a 3-0 lead for the save. The Pointers scored three runs in the second inning as Nicole Alexander hit a two-run double off the centerfield fence and scored on a fielder's choice by Melissa Mullins. UW-SP added five more runs in the sixth after one out as Nikki Best, Rutta, Berg, Cari Briley and Alexander all drove home runs to end the game by the eight-run rule. The Pointers were scheduled to play two makeup games from Monday on Wednesday morning against Franklin Pierce (N.H.) and Kalamazoo (Mich.). Results were unavailable.