Pullara's 6-RBI Day Helps Pioneers Sweep Blugolds

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team swept a doubleheader from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Friday by scores of 15-5 in the opener and 8-1 in the nightcap.  The wins bring the Pioneers back to .500 on the season both overall (12-12) and in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (8-8).  The Blugolds fell to 4-18 overall and 4-12 in the WIAC.  Platteville has now defeated UWEC in all six of the teams' meetings this season.  The programs will meet for one more doubleheader, Saturday April 24th at Kendall Murray Field in Platteville.  Game one will begin at 1p.  All of the action can be seen via livestream on letsgopioneers.com.

WP - S. Hernandez (3-3)
 LP - C. Griffin (1-3)

Austin Pullara (Fr./Morris, Ill.) reached base four times and drove in four runs as the Pioneers scored early and often in game one.  Platteville was already up 3-0 before the Blugolds came up to the plate with Pullara's 2-run double being the big hit.  Leading 4-1 in the 5th inning, a two-out error by Blugold 3B Otto Treichel opened the floodgates eventually allowing the Pioneers to score four unearned runs.  While the offense was building upon its lead, starter Sam Hernandez (Fr./Malone, Wis.) was cruising.  Through six innings, Hernandez allowed just one run, scattered five hits and struck out five.  Hernandez ran into some trouble in the 7th, hitting a couple batters and giving up a couple RBI base hits, but Nate Jennings (Jr./Arena, Wis.) was able to come in and put out the fire with no further damage.  

The Pioneer bats continued doing their damage however, saving the biggest inning for last.  Up 10-5 in the ninth, Platteville sent 10 batters to the plate and pushed across five more runs.  LF Jake Wegner (Fr./Reedsburg, Wis.) started the ninth inning scoring with a booming 2-run HR.  It was Wegner's third hit in the opener as he went 3-4 from the lead off spot.

"Jake Wegner has really been a spark plug at the top (of the batting order)," said Platteville Head Coach Chad Harris.

RF Ross Krist (Jr./Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) was perfect at the plate in game one, reaching base all five times he came up.  Krist was officially 3-3 while drawing walks during two other at bats.

WP - S. Nolan (2-2)
 LP - W. Brand (0-3)
  S - J. Schneider (1)

In the nightcap, the Pioneers again jumped out to an early lead, again with a Pullara 2-run double providing the big blow.  Staked to an early 4-1 lead, starter Shane Nolan (Sr./Lake Zurich, Ill.) had all the help he would need.  The 6'3 right-hander kept the UWEC bats quiet through six innings.  Following up on an impressive last outing vs. UW-Whitewater, Nolan gave up a single Blugold run and struck out seven in earning his second win of the season.

"Shane Nolan gave us another very good start," Harris said, "he was mixing his pitches as well as he has all season and really kept them off balance."

The Eau Claire offense did not get a reprieve once Nolan came out.  Jake Schneider (Fr./Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) came on in the 7th and tossed three innings of scoreless relief to earn his first career save.  Seven of the nine outs he recorded came via the strikeout.

"Jake Schneider did an outstanding job in his three innings of relief," said Harris.

A quartet of Pioneer batters:  Jonny Kelso (Jr./Villa Park, Ill.), Jason Adams (So./Burlington, Wis.), Pullara, and Wyatt Molitor (Fr./Reedsburg, Wis.), collected two hits each.  Kelso's four hits on the day gave him 42 on the season, tops in the WIAC.