Pioneer baseball opens season with win

ST. LOIUS, Mo.. — The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team took the field for the first game of 2017 Friday and picked up a win on the road in St. Louis, Mo, against the Fontbonne University Griffins with a score of 6-4. The Pioneers then lost 10-0 against Buena Vista.

In the opener, Lucas Keller started on the mound for the Pioneers, and Levi Earnest started for the Griffins.

The Griffins got on the board first, scoring three runs in the second inning, with a Mike Golich single scoring two. Later in the inning Ben Greenway singled to right center to score Ethan Boyer and bring the score to 3-0. The Pioneers responded in the top of the third however, with Josh Moses hitting a two run home-run over the center field fence, scoring Collin Mormann.  This brought the score to 3-2, which it remained until the top of the fifth inning when the Pioneers were able to steal a run, with the hustle of James Pavlik allowing him to score on a throwing error, and tie the game at three.  The Griffins regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning, with a Jesse Schott groundout to third, scoring Ethan Boyer to give the Griffins a 4-3 lead. 

The back and forth game continued as the Pioneers again tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, with Kyle Reinhart singling to left, scoring Josh Moses, and tying the game at 4. The Pioneers finally took the lead for good in the top of the eighth inning, with James Pavlik doubling to left and scoring Taylor Christopher and Brennan Kearney, and giving the Pioneers a 6-4 lead. Riley Vandenberg was able to keep the Griffins quiet for the eighth and ninth innings, and the Pioneers won 6-4.

Riley Vandenberg picked up the win in the game, and Fontbonne pitcher Cole Lankford took the loss.  

Against Buena Vista, the Beavers struck early, with Cameron Johnson hitting a three-run home run in the first inning, scoring Kolby Hilgenberg and Kendall Candor. The Beavers continued the scoring in the second inning, with Bryce Rheault scoring from third on a passed ball. Rheault then picked up an RBI in the third inning, as he was hit by a pitch to bring in Cale Ewald from third with the bases loaded. Later in the third Peyton Renning singled to score Noah Paper, to bring the score to 6-0. The Beavers were able to add on to their lead in the sixth, starting with Noah Paper drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Kendall Candor. They scored again when Michael Zeller hit a sac-fly to center, scoring Devin Weganmen. They then brought the score to 10-0 on a Bryce Rheault single, which scored Cameron Johnson and Noah Paper. This ended the scoring for the game, and the game ended in the seventh inning.

The 1-1 Pioneers play next March 11 against Ripon College in Winter Haven, Florida.

Written by: Jensen Melville, UW-Platteville Communications, 608.342.1194, pr@uwplatt.edu