Pioneers push #3 Blugolds
April 3, 2009
UW-Platteville's young softball team pushed defending national champion UW-Eau Claire to the limit Friday before the host Blugolds prevailed 6-2 and 7-5.
UW-Eau Claire, currently ranked third in NCAA III, improved to 16-3 overall and 4-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers--with 15 of the 22 players in their first year--fell to 3-13, 0-2.
Coach Heather Townsend's crew battled back from a 4-1 deficit in the nightcap, slicing the Blugold lead to 4-3 in the fifth. Mandy Cerqua and Tera Burr singled, and both came home on Whitney Foltz's single.
UWEC scored two in the bottom of the fifth for a 7-3 lead, but the scrappy Pioneers were not done. Burr led off the seventh with her UWP career-record 23rd home run, and Chantal McReynolds doubled and scored on Foltz's sacrifice fly. Kristin Nelson had a two-out single, but Destiny Glasson flew out to end the Pioneer upset attempt.
Both teams finished with 11 hits, with Burr getting three, and Foltz and McReynolds recording two apiece. Katie Stalker paced the home team with three hits.
Stalker also had three hits in the opener, including a double, and the Blugolds jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings.
The Pioneers are scheduled to play at UW-Whitewater Tuesday, then play host to UW-La Crosse Wednesday at 3 p.m.
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