Comeback Wins Send Pioneers To Sunday Sweep

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team (16-21, 11-13 WIAC) concluded the 2024 season with a pair of comeback wins over UW-Oshkosh (20-21, 12-12 WIAC) on Sunday afternoon at the Marc Heidorf Memorial Game from Kendall Murray Field. The Pioneers won game one 14-4 in eight innings before taking game two 6-5.

Game One

UW-Oshkosh got on the board first, scoring two in the fourth inning on a pair of sacrifice flies. The Titans tacked on two more in the fifth inning to increase the lead to four before UW-Platteville scored one in the bottom half of the inning on an error.

The Pioneers continued to chip away at the deficit in the sixth with a pair of runs on a solo home run by junior Xavier Lara and an RBI double by sophomore Caleb Parker. UW-Platteville then took control of the game with an eight-run seventh inning that started with senior Jake Wegner's game-tying RBI single. A walk and a hit by pitch put the Pioneers up two, and Parker made it 8-4 with a two-run double. The final three runs of the inning scored on an RBI single by senior Mitchell Pomeroy and a two-run single by junior Brady Katterhagen.

UW-Platteville put the finishing stamp on game one with two more runs in the eighth inning to secure the 14-4 win. Parker continued his strong game at the plate with an RBI single and junior Justin Fago ended the game with a two-run double down the left field line that scored Parker and junior Slate Higa.

Parker finished the day 5-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles, five runs batted in, and two runs scored. As a team, the Pioneers finished with 16 hits in the game, with Pomeroy, Wegner, and sophomore Spencer Robertson joining Parker with multi-hit performances.

On the mound, freshman Isaac Then moved to 1-1 on the season with the win in relief. He tossed the final three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out two. Sophomore Jordan Stanton got the start for the Pioneers and allowed four runs (two earned) across five innings.

Game Two

Four the fourth consecutive game, UW-Oshkosh broke through first, this time scoring one in each of the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Titans increased the lead to 5-0 with a three-run fifth inning before the Pioneers got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by freshman Connor Gresens.

UW-Platteville tied the game at five apiece with a four-run seventh inning. Fago and Lara drove in the first two runs of the inning with a pair of RBI singles, and Gresens got the Pioneers within one on his second sacrifice fly of the game. With two outs, Pomeroy tied the game when he scored on a wild pitch.

In the eighth inning, Parker reached on an error then stole second base to put a runner in scoring position with one out. After a flyout, Pomeroy put the Pioneers ahead 6-5 with a two-out single to center that scored Parker.

Junior Brady Hoppert wrapped a fantastic relief outing by working around a runner on third with just one out in the top of the ninth. He got a groundout and a strikeout looking to end the game and pick up his third win of the season. Hoppert threw four scoreless innings and struck out five to earn the win.

Parker and Fago each tallied three hits in game two, with Lara also finishing with a pair of knocks. UW-Platteville totaled 11 hits as a team in the game to go along with five walks.