PLATTEVILLE, Wis. —The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team hosted the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds on Saturday and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers on Sunday in a weekend full of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action, splitting 1-1 with the Blugolds and falling 0-2 against the Pointers.
The Pioneers' first WIAC win came on Saturday in the first game against Eau Claire.
After the Blugolds took an early 3-0 lead, the Pioneers had a huge bottom of the fifth inning, where senior
Carley Rote hit a double to left center field to bring in two RBIs for the Pioneers. Following the Rote double, junior
Thianna Wegner continued the momentum with a single to right field, bringing in Rote for the third run of the inning to tie the game at 3-3. With two runners on base, freshman
Dakota Stout singled up the middle, but a bad Eau Claire throw pushed her to second and moved the other runners forward, another run coming in for the Pioneers to take the 4-3 lead.
After the Blugolds tied the game 4-4 in the top of the sixth, the Pioneers responded with two runs of their own after a Blugold walk with the bases loaded sent one Pioneer in to take the 5-4 lead. With the bases still loaded, sophomore
Brooke Posey singled to left field, bringing in another run to add to the Pioneers now 6-4 lead.
The Pioneers held the Blugolds to just one more run in the top of the seventh, and took the 6-5 WIAC victory to kick off the weekend. Junior pitcher
Jess Butzen earned the win, recording four strikeouts for the Pioneers.
After falling to the Blugolds 10-0 in the next game on Saturday, the Pioneers played host to the Pointers on Sunday.
Carrying a 7-4 lead through the fifth, the Pioneers were in good position until a big Pointer sixth inning brought in four runs to take the 8-7 lead. The Pioneers had one more chance in the top of the seventh, but couldn't respond and fell 8-7 in the first game against the Pointers.
Freshman
Emily Woodford played well in the loss for the Pioneers, recording a triple, bringing in two runs and scoring two runs of her own.
After losing the first, the Pioneers couldn't regain momentum in the second game, and fell 6-4 against Stevens Point, taking their overall record to 4-22 on the season.
The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday, April 27 against UW-Oshkosh at the UW-Platteville Softball Complex at 3 and 5 p.m.
Written by: Carly Willman, University Information and Communications, 608.342.1194, willmanc@uwplatt.edu
