Pioneers Split Two at The Spring Games

CLERMONT, Fla. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team picked up another win over Kalamazoo on Tuesday after falling 3-0 to 16-1 Lewis and Clark Tuesday morning. The Pioneers (9-3) held off a comeback attempt by the Hornets (7-5) to defeat them 8-6 after a 4-0 shutout on Monday.

In the winning game, the Pioneers cycled through their entire lineup and scored five runs in the top of the third before the Hornets could get out of the half inning. UW-Platteville scored the first four runs off singles by junior Allison Peters, sophomore Rylee Broshous, senior Jordan Johnson, and senior Alex Davis and the fifth run scored due to an error by first base.

The Pioneers scored two more runs on a throwing error in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead. The Hornets scored another run in the bottom of the fifth, as did UW-Platteville in the top of the sixth, extending the Pioneers insurance to 8-2, but a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth cut the lead to 8-5. Kalamazoo scored another in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying runs on third and second base, but a fly out to centerfield secured the win for UW-Platteville.

Senior Taylor Roughen (3-1) captured the win with five strikeouts as she allowed seven hits, five runs and one walk in 5.1 innings. Freshman Morgan Erickson captured her third save of the year and finished the last 1.2 innings, striking out one, walking one and allowing two hits and one run.

The win followed a closely contested game against a team that already had 15 wins under their belts this season.

The Pioneers defense worked hard to hold Lewis and Clark's red-hot hitting to just a single run in the first, third and seventh innings. However, UW-Platteville's scoring opportunities were held to a minimum all game long.

Peters led the Pioneers at the plate in the first game and finished 2-for-3. Junior Carlie Jo Brownlee (4-1) suffered the loss, giving up two hits and two runs while walking two and striking out two in two innings. Erickson tossed the remaining five innings, striking out one and walking one while allowing seven hits and one run.

The Pioneers will take a day off on Wednesday and return to action on March 27 when they take on Union at 9 a.m. and Willamette at 11:15 a.m. in Clermont.