Pioneers split with Falcons in regular season finale
ST. PAUL, Minn. – With a ticket to the WIAC Championship on the line for both teams, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team split the final regular season twin bill with UW-River Falls at a neutral site field on Monday afternoon. The Pioneers needed to sweep the Falcons to guarantee a place in the five-team championship, while UW-River Falls only needed one win to make the WIAC post season. UW-Platteville secured game one 5-2 before the two teams took the nightcap into extra innings where the Falcons walked off with a 1-0 victory in the 8th inning. The Pioneers must now wait until the final WIAC games are played on Tuesday to know if they are moving on or if their season has officially come to a close.
Game 2
Game 2
| Final (8) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
Wis.-River Falls
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wis.-Platteville
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
|
Wis.-River Falls
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
ST. PAUL, Minn. – With a ticket to the WIAC Championship on the line for both teams, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team split the final regular season twin bill with UW-River Falls at a neutral site field on Monday afternoon. The Pioneers needed to sweep the Falcons to guarantee a place in the five-team championship, while UW-River Falls only needed one win to make the WIAC post season. UW-Platteville secured game one 5-2 before the two teams took the nightcap into extra innings where the Falcons walked off with a 1-0 victory in the 8th inning. The Pioneers must now wait until the final WIAC games are played on Tuesday to know if they are moving on or if their season has officially come to a close.
The Pioneers (14-18, 5-9 WIAC) rattled off 10 hits in the opener while UW-River Falls (17-14, 6-8 WIAC) tallied six. Riley Kelsch went 3-3 in game one and was walked once while batting in one run and tallying one run. Claire Bakkestuen finished the first game 3-4 and also recorded one run and RBI.
UW-Platteville tamed an early battle in the first inning, leaving three Falcons stranded in the bottom of the inning. The game remained scoreless until the top of the order returned to the plate in the 5th inning with two outs on the board. Leadoff Rachel Plautz singled up the middle and Bakkestuen singled through the left side. Kelsch lined one up the middle to bat in Plautz and Jordan Johnson continued the streak and singled to left field to bring in another run. River Falls then made a change in the circle, but the Pioneers weren't done yet as Kelsch scored on an error by the third baseman.
Leading 3-0, the Pioneers had their lead trimmed by one run in the bottom of the 5th inning, but UW-Platteville bounced back with two more runs in the 6th to take a 5-1 lead with 1.5 innings remaining. River Falls added one run in the 7th and UW-Platteville kept post season dreams alive.
Johnson (7-2) tossed a complete seven innings for the win, striking out one, walking one and surrendering six hits and two earned runs.
With the winner of game two securing a spot in the conference championship, it's not surprising the score remained 0-0 after seven innings of play. Bakkestuen (4-8) was in the circle all of the nightcap for the Pioneers and struck out four, walked one and allowed six hits. Corrine Roe (4-5) also pitched a complete game for the Falcons and struck out one, walked one and allowed two hits in eight innings.
Ultimately, a double to lead off the bottom of the 8th put a Falcon in scoring position with no outs. Two batters later, a single to right center by Kelly Aultman drove in the walk off run.
The Pioneers must now wait for the outcome of Tuesday's doubleheader between UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater to know their fate. To advance to the WIAC Championship, UW-Platteville would need UW-Eau Claire to win both games in order to be in a 5-9 tie with the Warhawks for fifth place. The Pioneers would then hold the tie-braker over UW-Whitewater.