Pioneers start the season strong
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team went 3-1 on their road trip to Missouri for the Pioneers' best opening weekend since the 2012 season.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
|
Webster
|
1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
|
Westminster (Mo.)
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
|
Westminster (Mo.)
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 0 |
|
Webster
|
0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team went 3-1 on their road trip to Missouri for the Pioneers' best opening weekend since the 2012 season.
Returning First Team All-WIAC selection Jessy Tanel led UW-Platteville offensively, collecting seven hits including a pair of home runs. Abby Jaques had six hits and four RBI, all of which came on a grand slam in the second game against Webster. Rachel Martin also had two of the Pioneers' seven home runs on the weekend.
Ashton Hoeppner began her collegiate career 2-0 with wins on Saturday and Sunday. She threw complete games in both starts and struck out a combined 16 batters.
Webster – Game 1
UW-Platteville found themselves down 1-0 early against Webster (1-3), but rallied for a 6-4 win in their first game of the 2018 season.
Rachel Bonnell got the scoring started for the Pioneers with a two-out, bases clearing double in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Crystal Rote broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the fourth with a single down the left field line that plated Alicia Stout. The Pioneers added runs in the fifth and seventh on a sacrifice fly and a Gorloks' error.
Hoeppner surrendered a home run to Skiela Martinez in the bottom of the seventh, but forced a pop out and struck out the final batter of the game for the 6-4 win.
Webster – Game 2
In the second game of the double header, UW-Platteville scored the first six and final seven runs for a 14-6 win in six innings.
Jaques reached on a Webster error to start the game, and after Rachel Martin hit by pitch, Jessy Tanel connected on a swing for the first Pioneers' home run of the season. UW-Platteville tacked on one more run in the first on a Rote single up the middle. The lead was stretched to 6-0 on the second on RBI singles by Martin and Cayleen Ryan.
The Pioneers gave up five in the bottom of the second and traded runs with the Gorloks in the fourth before breaking out for seven runs in the sixth inning.
Tanel plated Martin for the first run of the inning and later scored on a Webster error. The Pioneers scored two more before Jaques put an exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam, giving UW-Platteville a 14-6 lead.
Michaela Ward made quick work of the Webster offense in the bottom of the frame to end the game an inning early.
Westminster – Game 1
After the high scoring affair in the second game against Webster Saturday, UW-Platteville relied on the arm of Hoeppner to earn a 3-1 win against Westminster (2-4).
Westminster took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a Katie Price single, but Hoeppner only allowed one more serious scoring threat the rest of the way.
In the bottom of the sixth the Blue Jays loaded the bases with no outs on a walk and pair of UW-Platteville errors, but Hoeppner got Westminster to line into a double play and forced a ground ball to end the threat.
The Pioneers' scored all three of their runs in the second inning on solo home runs by Tanel, Ryan, and Rote.
Westminster – Game 2
UW-Platteville struggled in the field and at the plate in their final game of the weekend. The Pioneers didn't score until the sixth inning, and four errors led to seven unearned runs in the 10-2 loss.
Down 0-5 going into the top of the sixth, Martin homered to lead off the inning and Tanel scored on a Shannon Gaul double to pull within three. The rally was short-lived, however, as the Blue Jays pushed five across in the bottom of the frame to end the game in six innings.
The Pioneers have two weeks off before they travel to Greenville University for the Panther Invitation on March 16-17.