Pioneers Open Season Against Cornell Saturday

TOPEKA, Kan. – In the season opener, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team fell 8-7 in extra innings against Cornell College on Saturday afternoon in Topeka, Kansas.

Cornell scored three in the third inning and another in the fifth to lead 4-0 heading into the bottom half of the fifth. The Pioneers opened their half of the inning with three consecutive extra-base hits by sophomore Justin Fago, freshman Charlie Breen, and senior Grant Mullins to plate two runs, and senior Wyatt Molitor drove in the third run of the inning to make it 4-3.

After the Rams added two in the top of the seventh, UW-Platteville answered with back-to-back home runs by Fago and Breen to open the bottom half of the inning.

Cornell tacked on another in the ninth on a bunt that scored a runner from third to lead 7-5. Fago reached on an error to begin the Pioneers half of the inning and Breen continued his impressive day by connecting on his second home run of the day to tie the game at seven.

In the top half of the tenth, the Rams regained the lead on a one-out home run, and the Pioneers stranded a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning as Cornell hung on for an 8-7 win.

Breen had a fantastic debut, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored. Fago also tallied three hits in the season opener, while scoring three times and driving in another. UW-Platteville finished with 11 hits on the afternoon, with seven players recording at least one.

On the mound, sophomore Isaac Bixby allowed three earned runs (four total) in five innings of work. Junior Josh Belgrave (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing two runs in three innings of relief.

For the Rams, Vince Zipperer finished with three hits in four at-bats while Drew Logel went 2-for-5 with the go-ahead home run. Carter Kriegel collected the win after throwing three innings out of the bullpen and Patrick Montagna was credited with the save after striking out one in the bottom of the tenth.

The Pioneers will continue the weekend with two more games in Topeka tomorrow. UW-Platteville faces Luther at 11 a.m. followed by Augustana (Ill.) at 2 p.m.