Pioneers Split Twinbill at Dubuque

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team split a doubleheader at Dubuque on Saturday afternoon, winning the opener 8-7 and dropping the nightcap, 9-4.

The top six of the UW-Platteville lineup combined for seven of the eight hits in game one. Levi Ney, who was hitting in the No. 3 spot, went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI and Aaron Hopson, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI to lead the Pioneers.

Pioneers' starter Bill Oppreicht picked up the win to improve to 3-5 with a five-inning stint. Grant Oldenburg pitched the final 2/3 of an inning for his fifth save.

Dubuque (18-19) had 15 hits but stranded nine runners on base with five players with multiple hits in the loss. Kevin Mace pitched the first four innings to fall to 3-4 in the contest for the Spartans.

A two-RBI double by Hopson in the first put the Pioneers ahead by a 2-0 margin. Dubuque cut into the deficit on a RBI single but stranded the bases loaded.

Each team scored in the third inning to tie the game at 3. In the fourth, UW-Platteville scored a season-high four runs in the fourth inning. A sacrifice fly by Tyler Jacobson put the Pioneers back in front. Levi Ney reached on an error to plate two more runs for UW-Platteville. The Pioneers added two insurance runs when Levi Ney when reached on an error and added another courtesy of a Dubuque error in right field.

With the bases loaded, Trevor Kattre was hit by a pitch to extend the lead to 8-4. The Spartans plated three in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to one, 8-7.

In the nightcap, the Pioneers were held to just four hits in a 9-4 loss.

Brett Benesh was one of four UW-Platteville players with a hit and he also drove in two to lead the Pioneer offense. UW-Platteville starter Davis Lenzen went 4 1/3 inning to fall to 2-5 Dubuque starter Paul Kreger went  5 2/3 innings, striking out six for the win to raise his record to 4-4.

The two teams will play again on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Kendall Murray Field.