Ashlen Folkers fouled off three-straight pitches before straightening one out for a solo homerun to propel the University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team to a doubleheader split with the University of Dubuque on Thursday afternoon in the home opener at the Pioneer Softball Complex. Dubuque took game one by a 1-0 margin and the Pioneers took the nightcap, 4-3.

In game two, the Pioneers were trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth before they rallied to score twice to tie the contest and set the stage for the game-winning heroics by Folkers.

To tie the game, in the sixth, Nathalie Schattner hit her fourth homerun of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2. Then, Folkers picked up her first hit of the doubleheader with a single through the left side. She was sacrificed to second and later came in to score on a RBI double in the gap in right-center field by Chantal McReynolds to tie the game at 3. With the go-ahead run on second and one out, the Pioneers were unable to get the go-ahead run.

After both teams were kept off the scoreboard, in the seventh, it was in the bottom of the eighth that Folkers went deep for the gamewinner.

In relief of starter Jeni Freiburger, the Pioneers' Melissa Anderson pitched the final 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief to raise her record to 5-4.

After UW-Platteville went ahead in the first on a RBI single by Schattner, the Spartans tied it on a solo home run by Morgan Nearad in the fourth. Then, they took a 3-1 lead when Susan Danielewski hit her second home run of the doubleheader in the fifth. After the two-run shot by Danielewski, the Spartans were held to just one hit for the remainder of the contest.

A solo home run by Susan Danieleweski was all the offense that Dubuque needed for a 1-0 win over the Pioneers in game one. The Pioneer offense was limited to a double by McReynolds and two bunt singles by Kayla Gosdeck.

With the game scoreless, Danielewski hit her second homerun of the season over the left-field fence at the UW-Platteville softball complex. Spartans' starter Emily Michels struck out three and walked just one to raise her record to 5-2.

The tough-luck loser for the Pioneers was Anderson, who scattered seven hits and struck out one, to fall to 4-4.

The Pioneers will now turn their attention to the rigors of the WIAC which get underway with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon against UW-Superior on Saturday, Mar. 31 at the UW-Platteville Softball Complex and a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. vs. UW-Eau Claire also at home.