Playoff-bound Pioneers beat Yellowjackets
Posted May 9, 2010
UW-Platteville beat host UW-Superior 10-5 Sunday, clinching its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference berth since 2005 and only the second in school history.
The Pioneers, who dropped Sunday's opener 11-8, finished in third place in the WIAC, its best in a one-league format since a runner-up finish in 1966. (The WIAC was in two baseball divisions from 1975 until 1997.)
With a 22-18 overall record, Coach Eric Frese's club tied that 2005 team for the most wins in school history. The Pioneers are 11-13 in the WIAC, tied with UW-Oshkosh, who lost Sunday's final game 9-8 at UW-La Crosse in 10 innings. UWP gained the tie-breaker by virtue of a win over first-place UW-Whitewater, who took all four from Oshkosh during the season.
Brett Benesh hit two home runs, and Wil Osmanski pitched a complete-game victory for his school-record seventh win to clinch the playoff spot. Aaron Hopson also homered for UW-Platteville.
Benesh hit a solo homer in the sixth inning, extending the Pioneer lead to 6-3 and hit a two-run shot in the eighth, part of a four-run frame.
Osmanski scattered seven hits over nine innings, striking out six. With a 7-2 record, Osmanski passed Andy Burt (1993) for most wins in a season.
Derrick Rice added three hits, while Hopson, Levi Ney, and Wade Axelson each had two in the 14-hit attack.
The Pioneers hit four home runs in Sunday's first game, but still fell 11-8. Joe Nartowicz cracked two long balls, while Benesh and Hopson each went deep once.
The Yellowjackets rallied with six runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a two-run home run by Paul Schlangen and a three-run HR by Alex Lagadan.
The Pioneers will face second-seeded UW-Stevens Point (27-13, 16-8) in Friday's first game at 10 a.m. in Whitewater. Host UW-Whitewater (31-4, 19-3) will meet the winner at 1 p.m. The two losers will meet in an elimination game at 4 p.m. The three-team double-elimination tournament concludes Saturday, with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA III playoffs.
Note: Due to a computer problem at UW-Superior Saturday, we still do not have the statistics from those games. Those boxscores should be posted Monday, and then the season stats will be updated as well.
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