Pioneer split in WIAC Championship, advance to Saturday

WHITEWATER, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball went 1-1 on Friday in the double elimination WIAC Championship. The Pioneers lost to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse by a score of 2-1 in a 12-inning game before defeating University of Wisconsin-Stout 5-2 to advance in the consolation bracket.

Senior Keegan Madigan started on the mound in the 12-inning loss to the Eagles. Madigan pitched 9.1 innings, allowed one earned run and only walked one batter. Senior Scottie Gordon pitched two innings of relief without allowing an earned run.

The Pioneers had eight hits in the game which all came from the first four batters in the lineup who each had two hits Those Pioneers were sophomore Ross Krist, sophomore Jonathan Kelso, junior Josh Moses and senior Mitchell Susa.

The Pioneers lone run came in the sixth inning which tied the game at 1-1. Susa began the inning with a leadoff triple and was driven in on an RBI groundout by senior Brennan Kearney.

In the consolation bracket, the Pioneers rebounded with a 5-2 win over the Blue Devils for the first win in the WIAC Tournament since 2005. Senior Tyler Vogel earned the win and pitched 7.2 innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out nine batters. Freshman Nate Jennings earned the save after pitching 1.1 innings of shutout relief.

Freshman Logan Kozak put the Pioneers up 2-0 in the second inning when his single drove in senior Curtis Barsness and Kearney. Susa singled in Moses in the third inning to push the lead to 3-0. Krist bunted in a run in the fifth and singled in another in the sixth to extended the lead to a comfortable 5-0.

Moses and Kearney each went 3-of-4 in the game. Krist and Kozak both had two RBI. 

The Pioneers are scheduled to play tomorrow in Whitewater at 12 pm on Saturday. They will face the loser of the 7 pm game between University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.