Pioneers Blank Fontbonne For First Win Of Season

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team (1-2) split a pair of games on Saturday, falling to Illinois Wesleyan (1-1) 3-0 in the first contest before shutting out Fontbonne (3-3) 12-0 in the later game at Shaw Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

Game One

Illinois Wesleyan got on the board in the bottom half of the first as three singles allowed one run to cross the plate. The Titans added runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to increase the lead to three, and the Pioneers left four runners on base in the final two frames as Illinois Wesleyan secured the shutout.

Sophomore Jordan Stanton got the start for UW-Platteville but was hit with the loss after allowing three earned runs across 6.2 innings. Sophomore William Hough tossed the final 1.1 innings, striking out two and giving up one hit.

Senior Jake Wegner paced the offense with two hits, as the Pioneers finished with seven as a team in the loss. Junior Justin Fago collected the lone extra-base hit with his double in the ninth inning.

Game Two

Junior Xavier Lara drove in two in the top half of the first with a single after a single by senior Wyatt Molitor and a double by Fago put two runners in scoring position. The Pioneers tacked on another three runs in the fourth on RBI singles by sophomore Ian Merry and sophomore Caleb Parker and an RBI double from Wyatt Molitor.

In the fifth, Wegner singled in another run and sophomore Spencer Robertson drove him in with a sacrifice fly to increase the UW-Platteville lead to 7-0. Junior Chris Tsouras connected on a two-run home run in the seventh and the Pioneers added three more runs in the top of the ninth to win 12-0.

Junior Brady Hoppert threw a complete game in his season debut, striking out four and allowing just five hits and two walks. Sixty-two of his 94 pitches in the contest went for strikes.

At the plate, six different players finished with multiple hits, led by Parker's 4-for-6 performance. Tsouras recorded a pair of hits and three runs scored, while Merry went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.

The Pioneers totaled 16 hits and were very active on the basepaths with seven stolen bases. Wegner swiped three bags, followed by two for Tsouras, and one each by Merry and senior Hunter Hopkins.

Up Next

UW-Platteville remains in St. Louis to take on Fontbonne for a second time tomorrow afternoon at noon.