WHITEWATER, Wis. – In the opening game of the 2025 WIAC Tournament, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team (20-19) shut down the high-powered offense of second-ranked UW-Whitewater (34-5) and got some timely hitting to pull off the 6-3 upset win on Thursday afternoon from Prucha Field.

Three straight singles in the top of the first inning led to a run for the Pioneers, as junior Sam Meidenbauer lined a base hit to left field to score sophomore Caleb Parker. In the second, freshman Trinity Beland added to the early UW-Platteville on an RBI single that scored junior Mason Molitor, who had reached on a one-out double to right.

Beland drove in another run in the top of the fourth on a single that brought in senior Slate Higa, and Parker made it 4-0 in favor of the Pioneers in the sixth inning with another RBI single.

After holding the Warhawks to just one hit across the first five innings, junior Pierce Nelson ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth, loading the bases and allowing two runs. Sophomore Wyatt Fischer entered in relief and maintained the lead, getting a pair of outs following a balk that made it 4-3. Nelson would later earn in the win for UW-Platteville, his first of the season, after giving up three runs across 5.1 innings and striking out two.

UW-Platteville added a bit more of a cushion over the next couple innings, getting RBI singles in the eighth from Parker and in the ninth from senior Justin Fago to extend the lead to 6-3. Four of the Pioneers six runs were scored with two outs in the win, with team showcasing clutch hitting throughout the game.

Senior Isaac Bixby came on the bottom of the eighth to record the save for the Pioneers, working around three hits across his 1.2 innings. UW-Whitewater put the first two batters on base in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play groundout and a strikeout ended the game as Bixby earned the first save of his collegiate career.

The Pioneers finished with 14 hits, tied for the third-most in a single game this season for the team. Beland and Parker each had three-hit games, while freshman Anthony Massa, Meidenbauer, and Fago all had two. Thirteen of the hits were singles, with Molitor's double the lone extra-base hit from either team.

UW-Platteville will take on the winner second-seeded UW-La Crosse or third-seeded UW-Oshkosh tomorrow at 1 p.m. A win would send the Pioneers to Saturday's championship game at 11 a.m., with a loss meaning a second game tomorrow at 4 p.m.