OSHKOSH, Wis. – Senior
Melissa Dietz homered to score the go-ahead run against UW-Whitewater and advance the University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team to its second-consecutive WIAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday. The Pioneers defeated UW-Whitewater 8-7 from Mary Beth Nienhaus Stadium before falling 5-2 to UW-Stevens Point in the Championship.
Game 1
The Pioneers got the scoring started in the second inning on a pair of doubles from junior
Mia Savage and freshman
Delila Liston, which batted in three runs. The Warhawks answered with two runs of their own in the top of the third frame, but an RBI-double from freshman
Kaia McVay extended the Pioneers' advantage to two runs by the end of the third inning.
UW-Whitewater scored another in the fourth and narrowed UW-Platteville's lead to 4-3, but a huge double down the left line from junior
Rylee Broshous drove in three runs to push the advantage to four runs after four innings. The Warhawks continued to rally and after five and a half innings, the game was knotted 7-7.
With two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the sixth, the Warhawks made the decision to pitch to Dietz after intentionally walking the senior the previous at-bat. That was a decision UW-Whitewater quickly regretted as Dietz hit a moonshot to right center, scoring the go-ahead run.
Freshman
Nora Buske (W, 11-3) started and finished the game, pitching 4.2 innings, striking out one and walking seven while allowing three runs on three hits.
Game 2
The Pioneers had to come from behind early in the championship game as UW-Stevens Point went ahead 3-0 after hitting back-to-back home runs in the second inning. The Pointers added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly while their defense carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Senior
Caitlin Giacomo gave the game an energy boost in the fifth frame when a double to left center put two runners in scoring position. Senior
Greta Volkening then answered with a 2RBI-single up the middle, cutting the Pointers' advantage to 4-2, but the eventual winners would add one more run in the seventh before the end of the game.
Senior Carlie Joe Brownlee tallied seven strikeouts across five innings of relief where she walked one and allowed two runs on five hits.
The Pioneers conclude their season 24-15 overall after finishing the conference schedule 9-5 to earn the #2 seed in the tournament.
