PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team (14-7, 5-5 WIAC) dropped a pair of games to UW-La Crosse (13-7, 6-4 WIAC) on a windy Wednesday afternoon, falling 17-5 in game one and 7-6 in game two from Kendall Murray Field.

Game One
The Eagles jumped in front early, scoring 12 runs across the first innings behind a trio of home runs. UW-Platteville got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by senior Mason Molitor that scored freshman Kaleb Elwood.

The Pioneers got home runs by junior Evan Bohr and sophomore Owen Bernhardt late in the contest, the first of each of their careers. The pair of two-run shots made the final score 17-5 in seven innings.

UW-Platteville tallied seven hits in the opening contest, each coming from different players. In addition to the two home runs, junior Dylan Rippentrop had an extra-base hit, a double in the fifth inning.
Senior Jordan Stanton fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss as the Pioneers use a multitude of pitchers in game one. Freshman Cade Voelker threw a shutout inning in relief and struck out a pair of batters.
 
Game Two
After UW-La Crosse scored one in the top of the first, sophomore Anthony Massa tied the game with a solo home run to centerfield. The Eagles regained the lead in the second, but the Pioneers answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-2 lead. A throwing error allowed one run to score, and junior Spencer Robertson drove in the go-ahead run. Robertson then capped the inning by scoring on a balk.

The Eagles flipped the score in their favor across the next couple innings, scoring once in the fourth and three more in the fifth to lead 6-4. The score remained that way until the ninth when UW-La Crosse added to its advantage with one run.

UW-Platteville battled back in the bottom of the ninth, cutting the deficit to just one on a two-run double by Molitor. But the Pioneers left the tying run stranded on second as the Eagles hung on for the win.

The Pioneers finished with eight hits in game two, led by two hits each from Massa and Rippentrop. Robertson reached base three times with a pair of walks and a hit.
Freshman Carver Kamentz was struck with the loss after allowing four runs across 2.2 innings of work. Senior Wyatt Fischer worked the final 3.1 innings and allowed just one runs on two hits while striking out three.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will host UW-Oshkosh in a four-game WIAC series this weekend. Game times on Saturday are scheduled for noon and 3 p.m.