Pioneers fall in 11 inning battle at Dubuque

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team dropped two games Tuesday at the University of Dubuque with a narrow 2-1 loss in game one before the 5-4 loss after 11 innings in game two.

The Pioneers (9-14) suffered the two losses to Dubuque (16-9) after outhitting the Spartans 14-12 throughout the double header.

In game one, the Pioneers scored early in the first when Alejandra Ochoa doubled to left center to run in Haili Cota.  The lead would hold until the fourth inning when the Spartans ran in two runs and the Pioneers were unable to regain the lead.

In game two, Chaela West homered in the second inning to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead.  The score evened to 4-4 by the conclusion of the seventh inning and the two teams went into four extra innings before Dubuque's Bledermann stole third after being placed on second and scored off an error to close out the game.

The Pioneers' hitting was led by Angela Laabs going 3-for-4 in game two while Ochoa, Riley Kelsch, and Rachel Bonnell each recorded two hits throughout the two games.

Ashton Hoeppner pitched all of game one and closed out game two. She recorded three strikeouts and yielded five hits, two earned runs, and walked three. Andra O'Brien recorded three strikeouts in game two and surrendered four hits.  Abby Burns started game two and walked two with three hits.

The Pioneers will return to action on Thursday, April 11 when they host Wisconsin Lutheran in Platteville with game times set for 3 and 5 p.m.