Pioneers’ Orr breaks school 100-meter record

Platteville, Wis.- University of Wisconsin-Platteville Track and Field senior Gwen Orr met one of her personal goals as she broke the school 100-meter record at the UW-Whitewater Rex Foster Twilight Meet on April 2. Orr stated in a pre-season interview that her personal goals were to break the 100-meter and 200-meter school records.

Orr took down the record that was set by Mary Johnson in 2005 with a time of 12.37 seconds. Orr missed the 200-meter record by 0.20 seconds, running a personal best of 25.51 seconds. The school record for the 200-meter was set by Megan Marotz in 2017, with a time of 25.31 seconds.

The Pioneers return home to host the UW-Platteville Invitational on Saturday, April 10. Field events are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and running events at noon.

Golf returns to the links

The last Pioneer spring sports team to return to competition will do so on Saturday, April 10, as the Pioneer Golf team will travel to Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In total, the Pioneers will have four single-day meets before the three-day Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship at Reedsburg Country Club in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, beginning Friday, April 30, and finishing Sunday, May 2.

Head Coach Matt Bholken returns two top 20 finishers from the 2018 WIAC Championship. Junior Markie Ash set the 54-hole school record with a score of 233 to finish fourth. Ash set a personal best 18-hole total on day two with a 74, good for fourth place in school history. "I am looking forward to seeing my team compete for the first time in almost a year," Bholken said. "I think Markie Ash has a great opportunity to do something special this year."

Senior Kaley Mumma finished 18th at the WIAC Championship with a three-day total of 249. Mumma shot a personal best 80 on the final day of the tournament. "I am excited to see how the seniors capitalize on all the hard work they have put in the last four years," Bholken said.  "We also have a great group of freshman this year. I feel they can contribute to our team."

Baseball sweeps Finlandia

Week in review:

The Pioneers swept the Finlandia Lions in a four-game set April 2-3. The Pioneers improved to 8-2 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. The Lions dropped to 0-10 and 0-4 in conference.

Game 1 and 2 recap and photos.

Game 3 and 4 recap and photos.

Week ahead:

The Pioneers will continue conference play with UW-La Crosse (6-4, 1-3 WIAC). The Pioneers and Eagles are scheduled to play six games over the week. The first four games will be conference games and the last two are scheduled as non-conference games. The Pioneers will host the Eagles on Tuesday, April 6 and Saturday, April 10 for doubleheaders.  First pitch is slated for Noon on Tuesday, Apirl 6 and 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10. The Pioneers will travel to UW-La Crosse on Friday, April 9. If weather causes cancelation of a scheduled conference doubleheader, the non-conference doubleheader will be switched to a conference doubleheader.

The Pioneers and Eagles split a non-conference doubleheader on March 28. The Pioneers won the opener 2-1 before falling in the night cap 10-9.

Junior outfielder Jonathan Kelso leads the Pioneers in hitting with a .528 average. Kelso leads the WIAC in hits (19), doubles (8), on base percentage (.667) and stolen bases (9). Kelso is second in the WIAC in batting average. Freshman infielder Grant Mullins leads the WIAC in triples (4), the Pioneers in homeruns (2) and is batting .400 on the year.

Jason Adams (.478), Andrew Zakula (.423), Austin Pullara (.400) and Michell McLaughlin (.321) round out the top six hitters for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers are hitting .310 as a team, average eight runs a game and belted 24 doubles on the season.

Junior Nate Jennings picked up his third win of the season in relief against Finlandia. Jennings has appeared in four games, thrown 10 1/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 1.74.  The Pioneer pitching staff continues to lower their ERA, dropping it to 3.87.  Ian Schildgen picked up his first career save. In seven innings pitched, Schildgen has allowed one earned run and has an ERA of 1.29.

Softball returns after conference-wide pause

The Pioneer softball team will return to the field after a 10-day conference-wide pause. The Pioneers won three in a row before the pause and have a 4-4 record. 

The Pioneers will welcome UW-Oshkosh (7-3, 0-0 WIAC) to the Pioneer Softball Complex for a non-conference contest on Tuesday, April 6, with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. The Pioneers will travel to UW-Oshkosh to open conference play Thursday, April 8 before returning home to face UW-Stevens Point (13-6, 0-0 WIAC) on Saturday, April 10.

The Pioneers are hitting .317 on the year. Shannon Gaul leads the Pioneers and is seventh in the WIAC with a .423 average.

Ashton Hoeppner leads the Pioneers in the circle with a 3.72 ERA and three wins.

To follow all the Pioneer action this spring, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps, and links for the contests that are live streamed.