Pioneers Sweep Pointers To Begin Conference Play

Photo courtesy of: Vincent Villarreal, UW-Stevens Point Athletics

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team (5-6, 2-0 WIAC) swept a doubleheader against seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point (7-5, 0-2 WIAC) to open conference play on Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers took game one by a score of 6-4 before winning the second game 9-5.

The Pioneers offense struck for five runs in the bottom of the first of game one, highlighted by a pair of two-run home runs by senior Grant Mullins and sophomore Justin Fago. Back-to-back errors by UW-Stevens Point allowed the fifth run of the inning to cross the plate.

The Pointers got on the board with a two-run fifth and cut the Pioneers lead down to two runs with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. UW-Platteville pushed the lead back to three in the bottom half of the sixth on an RBI single by sophomore Chris Tsouras. UW-Stevens Point connected on a home run in the eighth, but junior Jake Schneider struck out two in the ninth to clinch the win for UW-Platteville.

Sophomore Brady Hoppert picked up his second win of the season after allowing three runs across five innings. Schneider was credited with the save, his first of the year.

At the plate, the Pioneers collected 13 hits, with Fago and junior Jake Wegner leading the way with three apiece. Tsouras and Mullins each finished with two hits.

In game two, the Pointers struck first with a run in the top of the first, but the Pioneers answered with three runs in the second inning on four hits. Senior Zach McCoy drove in two runs with a triple and later scored the third run on a single by sophomore Brady Katterhagen.

UW-Stevens Point tied the game at four with two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. Senior Wyatt Molitor pushed gave the lead back to the Pioneers in the sixth with a single to left field, but the Pointers evened the score again with a run in the eighth.

The Pioneers offense put four on the board in the eighth inning to take a 9-5 lead. Wegner capped off three straight hits to score the first run, and Molitor drove in another with a one-out single down the left field line. Katterhagen and Tsouras drove in the final two runs of the inning and freshman Jacob Melendrez set the Pointers down in order to secure the win.

Junior Brady Hubbard earned the win in relief for the Pioneers, his first victory of the season. UW-Platteville totaled 13 hits for the second consecutive game, with six players recording multiple hits. The Pioneers six through nine hitters drove in eight of the nine runs scored in the game.

The Pioneers continue the series against UW-Stevens Point tomorrow with two more games in Wisconsin Rapids. First pitches are scheduled for noon and 3 p.m.