UW-L Splits Doubleheader with UW-Platteville

For Immediate Release: Saturday, April 5, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse baseball team split a conference doubleheader with UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Pioneers won the opener, 6-4, but the Eagles took the nightcap, 14-4 in seven innings. UW-L is now 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the WIAC while UW-Platteville is 10-8 overall and 4-2 in the league.

In the opener, the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead on the top of the first as Nick Aplin scored on Ross Bennett's fielder's choice. The Eagles tied it in the bottom of the inning on Darren O'Donnell's RBI single scoring Storm Gram. Brett Benesh gave UW-Platteville a 2-1 advantage in the second on an RBI groundout and the Pioneers took a 4-1 lead with two runs in the fourth. Derrick Rice opened the inning with a home run and after Gabe Neitzel tripled, Lee Hawkins scored him on a sacrifice fly.

Hawkins added a run-scoring single in the sixth to make it 5-1 before UW-L tallied three times in the bottom of the inning. Cory Poppitz had an RBI single for the Eagles. Benesh added a two-out run-scoring single in the eighth for the final scoring.

Joe Lange (3-0) earned the win for UW-Platteville, going 9.0 innings, allowing nine hits, four runs (two earned) and two walks while striking out six. Ross Benitz (2-4) took the loss for UW-L, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, six runs and one walk with three strikeouts.

Hawkins finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored for UW-Platteville while Rice was 2-for-4 and an RBI. Neitzel was 2-for-3. Rice and Neitzel both scored twice. Tony Peterson was 2-for-3 and a run scored for UW-L while Gram finished 2-for-5 with a run.

In the nightcap, UW-L scored three times in bottom of the first, highlighted by Mike Schmidt's two-run double. After the Pioneers scored once in the top of the second on Mike Kuhn's single, the Eagles tallied twice in the bottom of the inning. O'Donnell was hit-by-pitch with the bases-loaded and Schmidt added an RBI on a fielder's choice.

UW-Platteville scored a run in the top of the third and fourth innings to cut the lead to 5-3, but UW-L scored three times in the fourth. Bennett hit a solo home run in the fifth for the Pioneers to make it 8-4 before the Eagles scored six times in the seventh. Josh Weber had an RBI double; Travis Kerr and Schmidt each had run-scoring singles; Peterson added a fielder's choice knocking in a run and Dusty Otto finished the game with a two-run double.

Greg Gibson (3-1) picked up the win, going 5.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and two walks while striking out three. Wil Osmanski (1-2) took the loss, pitching 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, five runs and two walks.

Kerr, O'Donnell, Schmidt, Poppitz and Weber all finished with two hits for UW-L. Schmidt had five RBI while Gram scored three times. Kerr, O'Donnell, Poppitz and Weber each scored twice. Bennett and Kuhn each had two hits for UW-Platteville.

UW-L and UW-Platteville will play another doubleheader Sunday, April 6 at noon at North Campus Field.