Pioneer Baseball - 1999 Season Review

Three University of Wisconsin-Platteville players were named to the honorable mention all-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team.

Pitchers Neil Carney and Kris Agnew and first baseman Harvey Knutson were selected to the honor squad by the league coaches.

Carney (Sr., Madison/La Follette) earned all-league honors for the third straight year. He led the Pioneers during the year with a 2.43 earned-run average. He compiled a 2-5 record, with three of his losses coming when the Pioneers were shutout. Carney¼s best performance came against UW-River Falls, when he tossed a five-hitter over nine innings for a 3-0 victory.

Agnew (So., Milton) saved his best performance for last when he struck out 17 UW-Stout batters while allowing just one earned run in a 4-3 win May 8. Overall, Agnew was 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 43.2 innings. In WIAC play, Agnew lowered his ERA to 1.90 while allowing opposing batters to hit just .193 against him.

Knutson (Sr., Livingston/Iowa-Grant) hit .270 during conference action, with three doubles and a key home run in a season-ending win at UW-Superior May 9. Knutson hit safely in eight of the 12 WIAC games he played in. At first base, he handled 114 of 116 chances cleanly and twice had 13 putouts.

The Pioneers finished with a 5-9 WIAC record and were 10-29 overall. Only Carney, Knutson and Sam Crueger were seniors on this year¼s squad.

David Lobenstein went the distance on the mound, and Harvey Knutson's two-run home run led UW-Platteville to a season-ending 7-3 victory over host UW-Superior Sunday.

The Yellowjackets won the opener 5-2, but the Pioneers unleashed an 11-hit attack in the nightcap. Knutson, Dennis Klubbertanz, Brian Beardsley and Sam Crueger-who had a two-run double in the ninth inning, had two hits apiece. Lobenstein scattered eight hits.

The Pioneers finished 10-29 overall and 5-9 and in sixth place in the WIAC.

Kris Agnew struck out 17 batters, and Merrill Brunson's two-run double with two outs in the sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie and propelled UW-Platteville to a 9-3 victory over host UW-Stout in the second game of a double-header Saturday.

The Blue Devils pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth to win game #1 8-7.

The Pioneers improved to 9-28 overall and 4-8 in the WIAC with the second-game win. They close the regular season at UW-Superior Sunday.

Brunson and Dave Kerrigan each had two hits in the opening game, while Brian Beardsley was 4x4, Sam Crueger 3x5 and Brunson 2x5 in the second contest. Agnew held Stout to four hits in the nightcap to earn the win. His 17 strikeouts are believed to be a UWP record, although records are still in the research stage.

UW-Oshkosh showed why it has the number one ranking in the nation by blanking UW-Platteville 8-0 and 12-0 Friday in Oshkosh.

The undefeated Titans improved to 24-0 overall and 8-0 in the WIAC. Platteville, which was held to two hits in each game, fell to 7-24, 3-5.

The Pioneers return to action Saturday at home against UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m.

UW-Platteville's Neil Carney is the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week.

Carney, a senior from Madison (La Follette) threw a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 UW-Platteville victory over UW-River Falls Saturday. He allowed only five hits over the nine innings, striking out nine and walking just two. The Falcons advanced only one runner past second base. Carney lowered his ERA to a team-leading 1.69, and a miniscule 1.00 in the WIAC.

The Pioneers pulled into a three-way tie at 3-3 with UW-River Falls and UW-La Crosse for third place in the WIAC over the weekend by taking three of four games from those teams. The top four teams advance to the league playoffs.

UWP has four more conference doubleheaders, including Friday's at undefeated UW-Oshkosh, the nation's number one team, and Saturday at home against UW-Whitewater. Saturday's twinbill, which begins at noon, will mark the last home games of the season.

Suddenly, UW-Platteville finds itself in a baseball playoff race.

The Pioneers swept third-place UW-La Crosse 2-0 and 2-1 Sunday at Kendall Murray Field, pulling themselves into a tie with the Eagles and UW-River Falls at 3-3 in the WIAC standings.

Kris Agnew allowed just three hits over 8 2/3 innings in the opener, and Brian Kammerer retired the only batter he faced with bases loaded in the ninth to save the win. Kory Ryan was 3x3 at the plate and knocked in both Pioneer runs, singling in the fifth and doubling in the seventh.

In the second game, Wes Larsen beat out a double-play attempt in the ninth inning, allowing pinch-runner Paul Kaye to score from third with the winning run.

With one out in the ninth, Nathan Stralow reached on a two-base error. Nate Rehman was then intentionally walked. Kaye, running for Stralow, advanced to third on a wild pitch. Larsen then hit a slow hopper to short, and the Eagles opted to try for two rather than come home with the ball. Larsen beat the relay throw, and the Pioneers recorded their first double-header sweep of the season.

Freshman Matt Hoff went the distance on the mound, allowing just three hits and one run.

The Pioneers take on the nation's number one team Friday when they travel to UW-Oshkosh. On Saturday, UW-Whitewater comes to town for another crucial WIAC double-header, beginning at noon.

Neil Carney threw a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 UW-Platteville victory over UW-River Falls Saturday afternoon.

The Falcons captured the nightcap, 10-3.

Carney allowed only five hits over the nine innings, striking out nine and walking only two. He lowered his ERA to 1.69 and a miniscule 1.00 in WIAC play.

Jason Cleland had a run-scoring double in the third inning, and an RBI single in the ninth.

Platteville led 3-2 heading into the fifth of the second game, but the Falcons put up four runs in both the fifth and the sixth innings. Merrill Brunson had three hits in the nightcap, while Dennis Klubertantz had two.

The Pioneers return to the field Sunday to play UW-La Crosse at noon.

The UW-Platteville baseball team scored not one but two runs on a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze play in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Coe College 2-1 in a thriller Sunday afternoon at Kendall Murray Field.

With pinch-hitter Nate Stralow at the plate, Coach Rich Duncan started running Kory Ryan from third and Sam Crueger from second. Stralow laid down a perfect bunt to score Ryan, and when Kohawk reliever Ben Gibbs threw to first, Crueger kept right on coming, and beat the throw from first back to home.

The Kohawks (12-15) came back to win the second game 6-5.

Kris Agnew went the distance on the mound in the first game, striking out 10 batters. Stralow had two hits in the nightcap to pace the Pioneers (4-21).

UW-Platteville's bats were just as cold as the weather Saturday, as the Pioneers lost a double-header to UW-Stevens Point, 3-0 and 14-0 at Kendall Murray Field.

The Pioneers managed just four hits in the double-header, two in each game. Neil Carney was the hard-luck loser in game one, allowing only one earned run in nine innings. Chris Simonson shut down the Pioneer bats in the first game, while Justin Duerkop had a no-hitter for five innings in the nightcap before pinch-hitter Harvey Knutson doubled.

The Pioneers return to the home field Sunday at 1 p.m. for a pair of games against Coe.

Dan Clarke made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch off Merrill Brunson's two-out, two-on 11th-inning smash to deep center, preserving Mount St. Clare's 4-3 baseball victory over UW-Platteville Wednesday in the Pioneers' home opener.

The Mounties won the nightcap 9-3. UW-Platteville fell to 3-18, while Mount St. Clare improved to 13-13 with the sweep.

The Mounties took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 10th, but Nate Rehman hit a two-out double in the bottom half to tie the score at 3-3. Tony Luett's suicide squeeze scored Jade Johnson in the top of the 11th for the eventual winning run.

Sam Crueger was hit by a pitch, and Harvey Knutson reached on an error in the bottom of the 11th. After Shawn Bequoth retired the next two batters, Brunson stepped up and ripped a shot to the right-center gap. Clarke, who entered the game in the 10th inning as a pinch-runner, ran back and dove, catching the ball over his shoulder to save the game. It's likely both runners would have scored had Clark not snagged the ball.

Luett had a two-run single in the Mounties' five-run third inning in game two, while Chad Siebel added a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Brunson, the Division III player of the year in basketball, had three of the Pioneers' five hits in the second game.

The Pioneers open WIAC play at home against UW-Stevens Point Saturday at noon. They also play host to Coe College Sunday at 1 p.m. Both contests are doubleheaders.

The UW-Platteville baseball team used the strong arms of Brian Kammerer and Matt Hoff to earn its first two victories of the season.

Kammerer scattered five hits in a 2-1 victory over the University of Dubuque Friday in the first game of three double-headers against the Dubuque schools. Nate Rehman's two-run double in the third inning proved to be the offensive difference in the contest. The Spartans rebounded to take the second game 4-0. Sam Crueger had the only UWP hit in the nightcap.

Hoff pitched the Pioneers to a 3-1 win over Clarke College Saturday, allowing just four hits. Catcher Kurt Tardy had an RBI double in the top of the seventh to break the tie and lead the Pioneers to the win. The Crusaders won the second game 4-2.

UWP closed the 1999 Dubuque Baseball Classic by losing a double-header to Loras, 5-3 and 7-1.

The Pioneers, who were 0-12 in Florida, are now 2-16 on the season. They return to action April 7 with another double-header at the University of Dubuque. Their home opener is April 14 against Mt. St. Clare College.