Pioneers Roughed Up in Rare Tripleheader

STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- As the 2022 spring baseball season enters its final week, finding make-up dates to offset Mother Nature's wrath before the end of the season becomes increasingly difficult.  After having two doubleheaders washed out over the weekend, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point baseball teams were forced to schedule three games on Monday.  Playing on its home field, the #15 ranked Pointers came away with a sweep of the tripleheader; 4-3, 11-4, and 7-6.  Each game was scheduled for seven innings, but the nightcap went extras before UWSP won in the 8th.  With the losses, Platteville fell to 12-16 on the season and 10-11 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.  The Pointers improved to 26-6 and 18-5 in the WIAC.

The two teams will finish up its season series with a single 9-inning game on Tuesday.

Game 1:  UW-Stevens Point 4, PIONEERS 3

Two batters into the opener, Platteville found themselves with a 2-0 lead.  After rightfielder Ross Krist (Sr./Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) led off with a double, Division III All-American Jonny Kelso (Sr./Villa Park, Ill.) followed with a two-run home run off Pointer starter, Casey Pickering.  Stevens Point scratched across single runs in the first and second off Pioneer starter, Isaac Bixby (Fr./Gleason, Wis.) to tie the game at two.

Platteville took back the lead in the top of the third with a leadoff home run off the bat of Wyatt Molitor (Jr./Pickering, Wis.).  The go-ahead round tripper was the second of the season for the junior first baseman.  A sacrifice fly off the bat of Pointer Payton Nelson in the bottom of the fourth however once again brought the game back to even.

Both starters were charged with three runs, Pickering in three innings of work and Bixby in four, leaving the game up to the bullpens.  UWSP's Austin Syvertson came in relief of Pickering, tossing two clean innings.  Pioneer reliever Nate Jennings (Sr./Arena, Wis.) worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning but in the sixth was greeted with a leadoff homer off the bat of Jakob Boos.  Sydney Ferry came on in the sixth and finished the game in the seventh with a 1-2-3 frame to give the Pointers the 4-3 victory.

Ferry improved to 4-0 with the win in relief.  Jennings fell to 1-3.  

Platteville's 1-8 batters each recorded a hit.  

Game 2:  UW-Stevens Point 11, PIONEERS 4

A first inning home run, this time off the bat of Krist, once again gave the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.  Pioneer starter Michael Greco (Sr./Bolingbrook, Ill.) cruised through the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third.  Home runs by Aaron Simmons and Bradley Comer gave UWSP its first lead, 3-1.

In the top of the fourth, Platteville had two on, with one out but was unable to push any runs across.  Stevens Point broke the game open in the bottom of the frame.  The Pointers hit four doubles against starter Greco and reliever Jennings en route to scoring six runs and taking a commanding 10-1 advantage.

The Platteville offense continued to battle.  The Pioneers loaded the bases with nobody out to start the fifth.  Kelso followed with a single up the middle scoring one.  A Molitor sacrifice fly pushed a second run across but that would be it as the next two batters were retired in order.  Zach McCoy (Sr./Modesto, Cal.) hit a solo home run in the sixth to pull the game to within 10-4.  The Pioneers would get no closer as the Pointers added an insurance run against reliever Jake Schneider (So./Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) in the bottom half to finish out the scoring.

Caleb Krommenakker started for the Pointers and worked 5.1 innings to earn the win moving him to 5-1 in 2022.  Greco was hung with the loss, moving his season mark to 2-4.  Pioneer pitching issued eight walks to UWSP batters in game two.

Catcher Dillon Sunquist (Jr./Swansea, Ill.) went a perfect 3-3 from the plate.  The first-year Pioneer improved his batting average on the season to .326.

Game 3:  UW-Stevens Point 7, PIONEERS 6  (8 innings)

For the third time on the afternoon, Platteville jumped on Stevens Point pitching in the first inning.  In game three, against starter JD Schultz the first four Pioneer batters reached base.  After Krist and Kelso walked, Molitor singled to right field scoring Krist.  An error on Simmons in right field allowed Kelso to score as well and the Pioneers found themselves up 2-0 with still nobody out.  Jason Adams (Jr./Burlington, Wis.) continued to put the pressure on Schultz, ripping a single through the left side moving Molitor to third.  One out later, McCoy stepped to the plate and crushed a 3-run home run over the left field fence to give the vistors a 5-0 bulge.  

Staked to a lead, Pioneer starter Brady Hoppert (Fr./New Berlin, Wis.) battled through four innings giving up just two runs while striking out four.  Platteville added a run to its lead in the fifth when McCoy hit his second home run of the game and third of the day, this one a solo shot off of Pointer reliever Nick Carpenter.  

Sam Hernandez (Jr./Malone, Wis.) came on in relief of Hoppert in the fifth inning.  After a 1-2-3 fifth, Hernandez became victim of the long ball in the sixth.  Down 6-2, Pointer Logan Matson belted a 3-run home run to pull UWSP to within 6-5.  Two batters later, Simmons lifted a home run over the fence in left field to bring the game back to even, 6-6.

Both teams had a runner reach base in the seventh inning but neither could push a run across, forcing the game into extras.  Krist laced a one-out single in the top of the 8th but a pair of fly outs followed leaving him stranded.  In the bottom half, Matson reached on a one-out single of his own.  He moved to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a groundout.  Intentional walks were issued to Simmons and Payton Nelson to load the bases and give the Pioneer defense a force at every base.  With the bags full of Pointers and two down, a wild pitch allowed Matson to score and give Point the 7-6 win.

Ferry came on in relief and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings to move to 5-0 on the season.  Hernandez fell to 3-2.

McCoy finished the nightcap 2-4 scoring twice and driving in four.  He now has 19 RBI on the season.  

After struggling in the field during a doubleheader last week at UW-Eau Claire, the Pioneer defense had a solid afternoon on Monday committing just one error over the three games.