This Week in Pioneer Athletics

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Spring sports are underway for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville athletic teams. Softball takes on a busy week in Florida, while baseball plays its home opener on Tuesday afternoon before beginning conference play later in the week. Track and field gets ready to start outdoor season later this week.

Baseball Set for Home Opener Tuesday

Following Monday's postponed game, the Pioneers baseball team will play its 2025 home opener on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. against Ripon. UW-Platteville then hits the road later in the week to begin WIAC play at UW-Oshkosh with a pair of doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday.

Ripon enters the week 4-8 overall but wrapped up its trip to Florida last week with a 7-0 win over Wooster. Gabriel Zielinski leads the team with a .371 batting average, while Chase Hanselman has hit a team-high three home runs and driven in 11 RBI.

UW-Oshkosh has won three straight games to improve to 9-3 on the season. The Titans rank third in the WIAC with 80 runs scored across their 12 games, posting a team batting average of .280 in the process. Zach Taylor has a team-leading .390 batting average, and Connor Brickman has a 2.25 ERA and 2-1 record across his first three starts on the mound.

Softball Spends Spring Break in Florida

After splitting a of games on Monday morning, the Pioneers softball team continues its trip to Clermont, Florida, with six more games over the course of the week. UW-Platteville will take on Lewis & Clark (9:15 a.m.) and Kalamazoo (11:30 a.m.) on Tuesday, Union (N.Y.) (9 a.m.) and Willamette (11:15 a.m.) on Thursday, and Lawrence (10 a.m.) and Oberlin (12:15 p.m.) on Friday.

Lewis & Clark sits at 15-1 on the season, suffering its first loss of the season on Monday in a 4-2 loss against Luther. Five different players are hitting at least .400 on the year, led by Makena Dahir's .469 batting average.

UW-Platteville will face Kalamazoo for a second time on the trip, having beat the Hornets 5-0 on Monday morning. Union (2-4 on the year) began their season over the weekend at the Spring Games, while Willamette (7-6) has won four of its five games in Florida so far. Lawrence (4-8) and Oberlin (2-7) wrap up the week for the Pioneers.

Track and Field Begins Outdoor Season at WashU

The Pioneers track and field teams will send several distance runners to the annual WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis later this week. The two-day meet takes place on Thursday and Friday from Francis Olympic Field. Events begin on Thursday night at 5:15 p.m., and resume on Friday at 10:45 a.m.