Softball falls in pitching duals with Blue Devils

MENOMONIE FALLS, Wis. – There were only six combined runs over 15 innings of play in UW-Platteville’s back-to-back 2-1 losses Sunday afternoon at UW-Stout.

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Softball falls in pitching duals with Blue Devils
April 22, 2018

MENOMONIE FALLS, Wis. – There were only six combined runs over 15 innings of play in UW-Platteville's back-to-back 2-1 losses Sunday afternoon at UW-Stout. The Pioneers took 1-0 leads in both games inside Williams Stadium, but despite great pitching performances were unable to hold off the Blue Devils.

Abby Jaques and Jessy Tanel each had three hits in the doubleheader for the Pioneers. Ashton Hoeppner (10-8) threw seven and one-third innings in game one, striking out eight Blue Devils to extend her conference-leading season total to 125. Kate Snook (0-2) and Abby Burns combined to throw game two, scattering eight hits and striking out three over six innings.

UW-Platteville (16-14, 3-7 WIAC) scored their run in the opening game on a double by Kylie Ackerman in the third that scored Rachel Bonnell. Hoeppner gave up just two hits to UW-Stout (16-5, 4-2 WIAC) through the first five and two-thirds innings, but a single and double with two outs in the sixth by the Blue Devils tied the game at 1-1. The game remained tied into the bottom of the eighth when Blue Devils' starting pitcher Beth Woods drove in the winning run.

Haili Cota reached base on an error to lead off the Pioneers' half of the third inning in game two, and after advancing to second on a passed ball scored on a Jaques double. UW-Platteville's lead didn't last long as Alicia Meyer's double in the bottom of the third plated both of UW-Stout's runs. UW-Platteville had scoring opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings, but were unable to get the tying run across.

The Pioneers travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday for a non-conference doubleheader with Wisconsin Lutheran starting at 3 p.m.