LA CROSSE, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team split 1-1 with University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Saturday before dropping both games on Sunday afternoon.
The Pioneers fell to 9-12 overall (4-4 WIAC) while the Eagles improved to 10-8 overall (6-2 WIAC).
The Pioneers won the opening game of the series on Saturday by a score of 6-5. Senior Caleb Kaufmann threw eight innings and struck out eight to earn the win. Kaufmann received some run support in the third inning when the Pioneers took a 4-0 lead. Freshman Ben Espinoza walked and sophomore Jonathan Kelso singled to start the inning. Junior Josh Moses singled to drive in Espinoza. Junior Collin Mormann and senior Mitchell Susa walked consecutively which scored Kelso. Sophomore Ross Krist then singled and drove in Moses and Mormann. Kelso had a 2-run home run in the 8th inning to give the Pioneers enough of a lead to earn the win.
The second game on Saturday was a pitchers' duel in which the teams combined for seven hits and the Eagles won 3-2. Senior Tyler Vogel started and threw 6.1 innings allowing two earned runs and struck out seven. The Pioneers had three of their four hits in the 5th inning when they scored both of their runs. Susa singled to start the inning, freshman Logan Kozak walked and Espinzoa singled in Susa. Kelso singled in Kozak.
The Pioneers woke up their bats in the first game on Sunday but they weren't able to slow down the Eagles and fell 20-13. Offensively, the Pioneers had five players with multi-hit games: Espinoza (2), Kelso (2), Moses (2), Krist (3) and Susa (3). Defensively, the Pioneers had seven fielding errors which led to ten unearned runs.
In the final game of the series, the Pioneers weren't able to get the offense going again and lost 11-1 in seven innings. Kelso went 2-of-3 with a triple but only six batters reached base in the game for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers host UW-Whitewater for the first two games of the series on Wednesday, April 10 at 1:00 and 4:00 pm at Kendall-Murray Field.
