Pioneers continue to battle weather during spring season

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville spring athletes and coaches are wondering when the weather will change for the better. Another week of cold, wind, snow and rain forced cancelations, postponements and location changes for softball, baseball and the track and field programs. Despite all the changes, the Pioneers had another successful week.

Golf to host first ever college event at Platteville Country Club

The Pioneer women's golf team had the previous weekend off. They are set to make history on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24 when they host the Pioneer Invitational at Platteville Country Club. The Pioneer Invitational will be the first spring golf event hosted by UW-Platteville at the Platteville Country Club.

UW-Platteville will be joined by Luther College, UW-Superior, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout.

Mark Evetovich is in his first season as head coach of the Pioneer women's golf team.

Orr runs sub 12 second 100-meter dash to lower her school record, Meet of Champions next for Pioneer track and field 

The Pioneer men and women track programs hosted the UW-Platteville Invite on April 16. Originally scheduled to start on April 15, the weather forced the top heats of the 5,000-meter and men's and women's hammer throw to be rescheduled to the following day, hoping for better weather conditions.

Mother Nature did not get the memo and the colleges and universities in attendance competed in a windy, wintery mix all day. Even with poor conditions, senior Gwen Orr lowered her 100- and 200-meter dash records, once again winning both events. In the 100-meter, Orr ran her first ever sub 12 second time, crossing in 11.97 seconds with a legal wind reading of 1.7. Her mark sits third on the NCAA Division III national list. She also lowered her school record in the 200-meter, crossing the line at 24.65 seconds, which is seventh in the nation. Both times are tops in the WIAC and NCAA North Region.

Senior Brianna Leahy upped the distance on her school record in the shot put with a top toss of 14.97-meters (49' 1.25") to win the event. She currently has the top throw in the nation. Freshman Brenna Noon threw her season best 13.57-meters (44'-6.25") to finish fourth.

In just his third time throwing the javelin, freshman Will Lawrence won the event with a personal best throw of 55.46-meters. Junior Caleb Christiansen ran his first sub-15 minute 5,000-meter race, finishing in 14:54.88. 

UW-Platteville recap and photos

The Pioneers will travel to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, for the 29th annual Meet of Champions on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. Friday will begin at 2 p.m. with the start of women's heptathlon and men's decathlon, the hammer and javelin. Saturday events will begin at 10 a.m.

Chris Rotzenberg is in his 10th year at UW-Platteville as the director of track and field.

Pioneers sweep UW- Eau Claire in pair of games, host Edgewood and UW-Oshkosh

Originally scheduled to play four games at UW-Eau Claire, the Pioneers ended up hosting the Blugolds at Kendall Murray Field for a pair. A snowstorm forced the postponement of the first two contests and possibly all four games before UW-Eau Claire moved the two games to UW-Platteville. The final two games are scheduled to be made up on Tuesday, April 26 in Eau Claire. 

Even though the games were played on the Pioneers' home field, the Blugolds were the home team on the score board. The Pioneers got strong starts pitching in both contests, as they swept the doubleheader 5-3 and 6-1. Freshman Isaac Bixby picked up his third straight victory in his third start of the season. Bixby threw seven innings allowing three runs, two earned runs and striking out six.

The Pioneers scored two runs in the third to take the lead. A single by sophomore Jake Wegner and senior Ben Espinoza's sac fly drove in the runs. The Pioneers added two insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run single from senior Ross Krist. Junior Wyatt Molitor collected three of the 11 hits for the Pioneers. 

Senior Michael Greco allowed one earned run and struck out eight in seven innings of work to even his season record to 2-2. The first four hitters in the Pioneer line-up all collected two hits. The Pioneers took advantage of some sloppy Blugold defense in the sixth, scoring four unearned runs to create more than enough breathing room to overcome the lone run Greco gave up in the sixth.

UW-Eau Claire recap 

The Pioneers (10-11, 8-6 WIAC) will welcome Edgewood College (14-8, 7-3 NACC) to Kendall Murray Field on Wednesday, April 20 for a 3 p.m. contest. The Pioneers were defeated by the Eagles 7-4 on April 6. The Eagles enter the contest with a .289 batting average, while allowing opponents to hit .266. They have hit nine homeruns while allowing 11. 

On the mound, the Eagles have a team earned run average of 4.19 while opponents earned run average is 6.64. 

Following the contest with the Eagles, the Pioneers will welcome UW-Oshkosh (14-10, 9-5) to Kendall Murray Field for a pair of doubleheaders. The Titans will be in town on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. First pitch both days are scheduled for noon.

The Titans are hitting .281 as a team, while allowing opponents a .237 batting average. On the mound, the Titan pitchers have posted a 4.07 earned run average. Opponent pitchers against the Titans have a 6.48 earned run average.

Kevin Tomasiewicz is in his ninth season as the Titans head coach. He has a career record of 172-141-1.

The Pioneers are hitting .315 as a team, led by Krist's .405. Krist and Wegner are tied for the team lead with three homeruns. Senior Jonathan Kelso is hitting .397 on the year with five doubles, a triple and homerun.

The Pioneer pitching staff is allowing opponents a .268 batting average with an earned run average of 6.32. Bixby leads the staff with a 2.20 earned run average in 32 2/3 innings. He has allowed 14 runs, eight earned, while striking out 35 hitters. Senior Nate Jennings has two saves on the year.

Chad Harris is in his fourth season at UW-Platteville. He has a record of 48-61. 

Softball has unexpected week off due to weather, travel to UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-River Falls

The Pioneer softball team was looking to keep the momentum going after sweeping UW-Eau Claire on April 10. Since the sweep, the Pioneers have had two doubleheaders postponed. They will make up the WIAC doubleheader with UW-Stevens Point (15-9, 0-2 WIAC) on Wednesday, April 20. The doubleheader with Loras College has not been re-scheduled yet. 

The Pointers are the second-best offensive team in the WIAC, hitting .334. They lead the league in hits (223), doubles (49) and total bases (314). They are fifth in the WIAC in earned run average, allowing 3.79 earned runs a game.

The Pioneers (11-11, 2-1) will spend the weekend in Northwest Wisconsin. They will face UW-River Falls (13-8, 2-2) on Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. The Falcons are hitting .317 as a team and allowing teams to hit .313. They enter the weekend with a 5.15 team earned run average.

Following the pair with the Falcons, the Pioneers will travel to Menomonie, Wisconsin, to face UW-Stout (10-14, 0-4 WIAC) on Sunday, April 24, for a noon start. The Blue Devils are hitting .257 as a team, while allowing teams to hit .290. They enter with a 4.37 earned run average.

The Pioneers enter the week as the third best hitting team in the WIAC, hitting .327 as a team. They are the top defensive team in the WIAC with a .964 fielding percentage. The Pioneers have a 4.11 team earned run average. 

Sophomore Kendall Drake is hitting .600 on the season in five plate appearances. Plautz is sixth in the WIAC with a .486 average. Bakkesteuen leads the Pioneers with three home runs, 21 runs batted in and 15 walks. Plautz leads the Pioneers in hits with 34.

Bakkestuen leads the Pioneers in the pitching circle with a 2.63 earned run average. She is 4-3 on the year with two saves in 56 innings pitched.

Becca (Lowe) Runde is in her third year as head coach. She has a career record of 30-30. 

To follow the Pioneers all season, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps and links for the contests that are live streamed. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.