Gaul leads Pioneers in split against Kohawks

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team (2-4) split Wednesday's non-conference doubleheader at Coe College (6-3) with a 4-3 loss in game one followed by an 8-4 victory in game two. Shannon Gaul did the Kohawks no favors at Clark Field, leading the Pioneers and picking up six hits off seven at bats across the two games and driving in six runs. Overall, the Pioneers totaled 23 hits and 11 runs with no errors in the doubleheader.

"That win felt good!" said head coach Becca Lowe. "Losing this week by one run to a ranked MSOE team and one run to a well established Coe program is tough, but it also shows how far we have come and how close we are! Very proud of the girls for making adjustments at the plate and getting after it in game two. A big goal of ours has been to win the second game and we continue to get better at that goal each game. Excited to finish the week strong!"

Gaul's solo homerun in the top of the 6^th inning of game one tied the contest 3-3 and was the first homerun for the Pioneer of the 2021 season.  Gual finished game one 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Cassie Oelke had a great start to the day going a perfect 3-for-3 in game one along with an RBI.

Coe was first on the scoreboard when Ruby Kappeler homered to score one run in the bottom of the 2^nd. Gaul's single in the top of the 4^th to run in Staley Seefeldt was followed up by a double by Oelke to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead after 3.5 innings. Coe's Skyler Stookey homered in the bottom of the same inning to score two and take a 3-2 lead with three innings to go. After Gaul evened things up in the top of the 6^th, it looked like the teams might go to extra innings, but a single to score the runner on third base allowed the Kohawks to walk off with the win in game one.

Hungry for revenge after the late defeat, the Pioneers came out swinging in game two and it was yet again Gaul who stepped up with runners on second and third with two outs and singled to score one in the top of the first. UW-Platteville was able to run in one more before the third out off of an error by Coe's pitcher, Ellie Thurow.

Once again with two outs, Gaul doubled in the top of the 3^rd, driving in two runs and ran in with the next at bat to extend the lead to 5-0.

Coe was able to get one run on the board in the bottom of the 4^th, but the Pioneers answered back in the top of the 5^th with Gaul, Laabs and Amanda Stanczuk each tallying RBIs to give a comfortable 8-1 lead going into the bottom of the 5^th.

Gaul singled in the top of 7^th to make for a perfect 4-for-4 in game two and the Pioneers took the field leading 8-3 with half an inning remaining in the doubleheader. Coe made a go at a comeback when three consecutive singles with two outs after Bree Mangelsen's homerun had the tying run step up to the plate. Fortunately, the Pioneers got out of the jam with an unassisted out at first to finalize the Pioneers' 8-4 win.

Ashton Hoeppner (2-1) led off both games in the circle and took home the win in game two. Hoeppner pitched four innings in game one, striking out three, walking five and surrendering six hits with three earned runs. The Pioneer pitched another four innings in game two striking out four, walking two, and allowing five hits with two earned runs.

Abby Burns (0-1) threw relief in game one and suffered the loss striking out three, walking one, and surrendering four hits along with one earned run. Hannah Ausenhus (4-1) took home the win in game one striking out four Pioneers and allowing 11 hits and three earned runs in the seven innings pitched. Thurow (1-1) suffered the loss in game two and allowed eight hits and eight runs with six earned while walking two and striking out four.

The Pioneers will finish their busy week at Saint Mary's University in Minnesota on Friday, March 26 with game one set for 2 p.m.