Although the University of Wisconsin-Platteville softball team lost both games to UW-Stout, the two contests ended up coming down to the final innings.
Lee Negrelli, head coach of the Pioneer softball team, said she felt good coming into the first game and knew it was going to be a close match up. The Pioneers entered the game with an overall record of 8-15 and a WIAC record of 0-5, while the Blue Devils were 9-18 and 1-6.
In the first inning, senior second baseman Katie Huss received a walk after being hit by the pitch. Sophomore third baseman and outfielder, Chelsey Walker, hit a double sending Huss home for the first score of the game.
“We had seen their best pitcher already and we were hitting pretty well with her,” Negrelli said.
The Blue Devils rallied in the third inning with three runs, 3-1.
The Pioneers rallied back to tie the game going into the seventh inning, 5-5. With the Blue Devils up to bat first they produced four runs and took a 9-5 lead. Senior second baseman Lisa Karau and senior outfielder MJ Patten were able to make it around the bases for two runs but it was not enough and the women fell to the Blue Devils, 9-7.
The Pioneers started off with the lead again in the second game, going up 2-0 by the end of the second inning. Freshman outfielder Crystal Rote sent a deep ball over the fence for a two-run homer, also bringing in Walker to take the early lead.
“It was my third of the season.” Rote said. “It feels pretty good, I never did hit [a homerun] in high school.”
The Pioneers allowed the Blue Devils to come back with four runs over the next three innings, as the game went to the seventh with UW-Stout up, 4-2. After a two-run inning by the Blue Devils, the Pioneers answered with two runs of their own, but it was not enough yet again to earn the win as they fell 6-4.
Jess Butzen (3-7), sophomore pitcher, leads the Pioneers with 65.2 innings pitched as well as strikeouts with 36. She pitched in the first game for 6.2 innings, gave up 13 hits and three earned runs
“Each of our games we either struggle with defense or offense,” Butzen said. “I feel like we are getting really close to getting it right.”
The Pioneers got it right on April 13 with a win over the University of Dubuque, 6-5, breaking their 11-game losing streak.