Pointer baseball team earns NCAA berth The Pointers pulled off a seemingly impossible task Saturday by winning three nine-inning games in one day to claim the WIAC tournament championship in Whitewater and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament. After beating UW-Whitewater, 1-0, in their first game on Friday, the Pointers fell to UW-Oshkosh, 4-2, and were faced with the prospect of three games Saturday. UW-SP opened the final day with an 8-3 victory over UW-La Crosse and then beat UW-Oshkosh, 5-4, and, 3-1, to clinch its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five seasons. The Pointers open tournament play Thursday morning at 11 a.m. against Midwest Conference champion Ripon. UW-SP is the second seed, while Ripon is the third seed. St. Thomas is the top seed and takes on fourth-seeded Edgewood. The games continue through Saturday at E.J. Schneider Field, which is located next to Oshkosh North High School. Bill Verbrick (Appleton) pitched a complete game shutout against UW-Whitewater and then came back the following day to earn saves in both games against UW-Oshkosh. Jeff Pieper (Wausau) earned a complete game victory against UW-La Crosse to improve to 7-0 for the season, while freshmen Jeremy Mueller (Waukesha) and Josh Blaha (Two Rivers) were the winning pitchers against UW-Oshkosh. Jon Jagler (Wausau) was one of the hitting stars for the Pointers, finishing eight-for-14 on Saturday and 11-for-21 for the weekend. Sam Molski (Stevens Point) hit his single-season school record 12th home run of the season in the win over UW-La Crosse. The Pointer enter the tournament with a 29-12 overall record and an 8-5 mark in the WIAC. Softball UW-SP suffered a heartbreaking weekend at the NCAA Division III tournament in Waverly, Iowa, losing two games on Friday with two outs in the seventh inning. The Pointers opened the day with a 1-0 loss to Marian and then dropped their second game to St. Thomas, 2-1. Against Marian, Nicki Bertram (Marion) allowed just four hits, but the Sabres scored their only run on a two-out single in the top of the seventh. Pointers' designated player Carrie Hermsen (Oconto) doubled in the bottom of the seventh, but a fly ball by Katy Metzger (Waukesha) was robbed of a potential game-winning home run in left field and Kelly Rutta (Stevens Point) hit a line drive directly to the leftfielder to end the heartbreaking defeat. Hermsen hit a two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the sixth inning against St. Thomas for a 1-0 lead. However, the Tommies scored twice after two outs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the victory. Karen Guckenberger (South Milwaukee) allowed just six hits, but three came in the final inning. Hermsen and Sarah Berg (Stillwater, Minn.) both finished three-for-five and were named to the all-regional tournament team. The Pointers finished the season with a record of 25-13 overall and 1-5 in the WIAC East Division. Track and Field Jeremiah Rolfs (Wild Rose) won the discus at 166 feet, 11 inches to lead the Pointer men's team at the University of Wisconsin Badger Invitational Saturday in Madison. Noah Eschenbauch (Rosholt) was second in the hammer throw at 181 feet and third in the shot put at 51 feet, 6 1/2 inches. No team scores were kept. Becky Lebak (Burlington) was the Pointers' lone men's or women's winner Friday as the Pointers competed at the Dr. Keeler Invitational in Naperville, Ill. No team scores were kept. Lebak had a time of 17:20.68 to win the 5,000 meters by 15 seconds. Other top finishers were the 4x400 meter relay, which finished second in 4:00.32, Leah Juno (Brillion), who was third in the 400 meters at 58.53 seconds and Jody Butkowski (Stevens Point), who was third in the triple jump at 37 feet, 1.25 inches. The men's team was led by the 4x400 meter relay, which was third in 3:17.95. Chris Horvat (Menomonee Falls) was fourth in the 800 meters at 1:52.00 and Aaron Carley (Lodi) was fourth in the triple jump at 22 feet, 7.25 inches. The Pointers compete Friday, May 18, at North Central Invitational in Naperville, Ill.