MENOMONIE, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville split a doubleheader against the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Menomonie on Saturday. Stout won the opener 9-8 while the Pioneers pounded out 16 hits in game two en route to a 17-12 victory. Saturday's results moved Platteville's record to 15-21 while Stout changed its mark to 17-17. The Blue Devils finished the season series between the two programs with six wins compared to two wins for the Pioneers. Platteville finishes the regular season this week with a pair of doubleheaders against UW-Stevens Point. On Wednesday, the two programs will play two in Stevens Point. Then on Saturday, Platteville will return home for its final games at Kendall Murray Field for the season with a second twinbill vs. the Pointers.
| GAME 1 |
R |
H |
E |
| UW-Platteville |
8 |
9 |
2 |
| UW-Stout |
9 |
8 |
2 |
WP - L. Kallod (1-0)
LP - A. Yance (0-1)
Platteville found themselves behind 7-0 in the 7th inning before mounting a furious comeback in the late innings. The Pioneers broke through in the top of the 7th on three consecutive RBI hits from the bats of Wyatt Molitor (Fr./Reedsburg, Wis.), Grant Mullins (Fr./Greenville, Wis.), and Dan Opem (Sr./Glen Ellyn, Ill.). A Jonny Kelso (Jr./Villa Park, Ill.) solo HR and Molitor RBI double cut the deficit to 7-5 in the 8th.
After Stout scored a run in the bottom of the 8th to extend their lead back to three, the Pioneers tied the game in the 9th with three runs all after two were out. The tying run came across via an RBI double from Ryan Vogel (Fr./Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) scoring Kelso. The Blue Devils avoided extra innings with a run of their own in the ninth. After two were out and nobody on, SS Charlie Szykowny doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to secure the victory for UWS.
Molitor paced the Pioneer offense by going 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Pioneer pitching issued 11 walks. Its only the second time this season that Platteville has walked more than 10 batters in a game. The other instance also came against UW-Stout back on March 20th when they walked 14.
| GAME 2 |
R |
H |
E |
| UW-Platteville |
17 |
16 |
0 |
| UW-Stout |
12 |
15 |
2 |
WP - J. Berendes (1-0)
LP - B. Lecheler (0-1)
In game two, the Pioneers set their season-high for runs scored. UWP set the tone for a wild game early by scoring two runs in each of the first three innings. The big hit in that stretch came from Kelso who belted his second HR of the day, a two-run shot in the 2nd inning.
The Stout bats kept pace with multiple runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Their two-out, four-run rally in the 4th inning actually gave the Blue Devils the lead at the time, 9-6.
In the fifth inning however, Platteville took over for good as they roughed up Stout reliever Brett Lecheler. The Pioneers sent 10 batters to the plate, the first eight reached base before recording an out. Three different times in the inning the team loaded the bases and followed with run scoring base hits. Anders Lind (Fr./St. Paul, Minn.), Ben Espinoza (Jr./Villa Park, Ill.), and Kelso each provided the hits with Kelso's double driving in two. By the time Andrew Zakula (So./Oak Creek, Wis.) grounded out to end the inning, the Pioneers had scored eight runs to take a commanding 14-9 lead.
Jake Wegner's (Fr./Reedsburg, Wis.) 2-run blast in the 7th was a part of a three-run inning to finish out the Pioneer scoring.
Kelso's monster day at the plate included the home run and a pair of doubles. He drove in a career-high 5 runs and stole two bases. Jacob Berendes (Fr./Shullsburg, Wis.) pitched 3.2 innings of relieft to earn his first collegiate win.
