Pair of doubleheader losses for Pioneer softball team

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team dropped a pair of doubleheaders against UW-River Falls and UW-Stout this past weekend at the UW-Platteville softball complex.

The Falcons of UW-River Falls took an early 5-2 lead by the end of the third inning of the first game. After tacking on two more in the sixth, UW-River Falls laid down the hammer with seven runs in the seventh. Although the Pioneers rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, it was not enough to overcome the deficit as they dropped the first contest, 12-4. 

A nine-run second inning by the Falcons helped anchor another tough loss for the Pioneers as UW-River Falls took Saturday's second contest, 12-7.

The Pioneers hit the board first on Sunday with a one-run first inning performance against the Blue Devils of UW-Stout. Following three runs in the third and two runs in the fourth, the women found themselves down 5-1 at the end of the fourth. The Pioneers tied the game up by the end sixth, 5-5, but a four-run seventh inning performance by the Blue Devils was too much for the Pioneers to come back from, 9-7.

UW-Platteville tallied the first two runs in the second innings of the second game off of a two-run Crystal Rote homer. After allowing the Blue Devils to chip away through the rest of the game, the Pioneers did not score again until the bottom of the seventh. Kelsie Jo Enders scored off a Blue Devil error and Lisa Karau drove in Katie Huss for the final score of the game, 6-4, as the Pioneers suffered another tough loss.

Outfielder MJ Patten currently leads the Pioneers at the plate going 33-76 with a .434 batting average, along with team-highs in runs with 21 and stolen bases at 16. Chelsey Walker and Carley Rote are tied for a team-high 16 RBIs, while Rote leads the team in doubles with seven and home runs at three (tied with sister Crystal).

The Pioneers travel across the Mississippi River on Monday to take on the University of Dubuque Spartans in a doubleheader expected to begin at 3 p.m.