The University of
Wisconsin-Platteville softball team dropped a doubleheader to
UW-River Falls on Sunday, losing 1-0 and 6-3.
The Pioneers (19-17, 8-8 WIAC)
were held to four hits in the first game and seven in the second
game by Falcons' pitcher Rose Tusa.
In game one, UW-River Falls scored
in the first inning and that was all the offense the Falcons would
need. The Pioneers would have base runners in four of the seven
innings; however, each time the Falcons and Tusa would keep the
Pioneers off the scoreboard.
Tusa struck out 13, allowed just
the four hits to pick up her first of two wins on the afternoon to
raise her record to 16-5. Pioneer starter Melissa Anderson would be
the tough-luck loser. She pitched a complete game, scattering seven
hits and striking out two to fall to 11-9.
In the nightcap, UW-Platteville
jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first inning when Molly Rice
doubled in Ashlen Folkers and Nathalie Schattner, who singled and
doubled, respectively earlier in the inning. However, the Falcons
answered the Pioneer offense with a three-run home run by Ashley
Goettl in its half of the first to regain the lead. The Falcons
extended the lead to 4-2 with an insurance run in the third.
The Pioneers came back with a run
in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, 4-3.
Colleen Lowe singled
to right field to start the inning. A stolen base and a ground out
moved pinchrunner
Cassandra Bonin to third. She later came around
to score on a fielder's choice by
Ellyn Goerdt. UW-River Falls had
the answer, again, to the Pioneer offense with a solo home run and
RBI double in its half of the sixth to take a three-run lead.
Tusa escaped a threat in the
seventh by the Pioneers to record her second win of the afternoon.
She scattered seven hits and struck out eight to raise her record
to 17-5. Hayley Buchanan and Amber O'Connell each had two hits to
lead the offensive attack for the Falcons.
Offensively for UW-Platteville,
Ashlen Folkers and Nathalie Schattner each had two hits in the
nightcap. Pioneer starter Jeni Freiburger went the distance, struck
out three in the loss to fall to 7-7.
The Pioneers will now travel to
the WIAC Tournament for the first time since the 2008
campaign.
