Pioneers Split Twinbill with Dubuque

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team split a doubleheader with the University of Dubuque on Tuesday afternoon, including a 3-1 win in nine innings in game one and a 7-6 loss in eight innings in game two.

UW-Platteville (8-10) had three players  - Jordan Johnson, Samantha Niemann and Colleen Lowe - in game one with two hits. The Pioneers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a RBI groundout in the second by Molly Rice. The Spartans tied the game in the fifth and the two teams would eventually enter extra innings. Pioneers' pitcher Melissa Anderson held the Spartans to eight hits and struck out four for her team-leading sixth win on the season.

With the game, tied at one in the ninth, UW-Platteville sent eight batters to the plate. Niemann started the inning with her second hit of the afternoon with a single up the middle. She moved to second on a Spartans' passed ball. A walk to Lowe and a Rice single loaded the bases for Brittany Caley, who went on to receive a bases-loaded walk to put UW-Platteville ahead 2-1. The Pioneers added an insurance run on a bases loaded RBI single by Aubrey Fulton to drive in Lowe. Anderson closed out the contest with a fly out and a pair of ground outs to seal the win for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers nearly rallied to complete a doubleheader sweep with a three-run seventh and additional run in the eighth only to see the host Spartans score twice to earn the split.

Dubuque scored a run in the first and two more in the second to take a 3-0 lead. The Pioneers took advantage of a pitching change in the fourth to score its first run of the game. Chantal McReynolds singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She would later come around to score when she took advantage of a pair of Dubuque miscues. The run by McReynolds cut the deficit to 3-1 for the Pioneers. Dubuque got the run back in the fifth to stretch the lead to 4-1.
 
UW-Platteville failed to concede and scored three times in the seventh to tie the game at 4. Again, the Pioneers took advantage of another Dubuque pitching change. Dubuque native and Pioneer center fielder Ellyn Goerdt (pictured at the top) started the inning with a triple to right center. Next, she scored on a Nathalie Schattner double that cut the deficit to 4-2. After a popout, back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Brittany Caley. She would reach base on an error by the Spartans' left fielder and scored Schattner to cut the Spartans advantage to 4-3. Next, Aubrey Fulton reached on a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 4.

In the eighth, Goerdt hit her second triple of the afternoon to the gap in right center. She would come around to score on a RBI single up the middle by Schattner to put the Pioneers ahead for the first time in the game. UW-Platteville would be unable to add to its lead in the inning. Dubuque came back to win the game in its half of the eighth on a two-RBI double by Amber Meyer.

Next up for UW-Platteville is a WIAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 against UW-River Falls at 2 p.m. at the UW-Platteville Softball Complex.