UW-La Crosse 15, UW-Platteville 7

UW-La Crosse 3, UW-Platteville 2

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team rallied for a doubleheader sweep of UW-Platteville Wednesday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Eagles won the opener, 15-7, scoring 10 runs in the seventh inning and came back to earn a 3-2 victory in the nightcap, scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the ninth. UW-L improves to 10-14 overall and 3-7 in the WIAC while UW-Platteville drops to 14-13 overall and 4-10 in the conference.

In the opener, UW-L snapped an eight-game losing streak with its 15-7 victory. UW-Platteville scored twice in the top of the first on Tyler Jacobson's two-run double. UW-L's Brett Jacobson had an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Pioneers added two more runs in the top of the third on Jason Jacobson's two-run single.

Each team scored once in the fourth with Levi Ney hitting an RBI double for the Pioneers and Lance Poppy connecting for a solo home run for the Eagles. Matt Trocke hit a solo home run in the fifth for UW-L to cut the lead to 5-3, but UW-Platteville's Aaron Hopson hit a home run of his own in the top of the sixth. Ryan Steinhoff scored on a Pioneers' throwing error in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-4.

UW-L then tallied 10 runs in the seventh, tying for the sixth-most in school history. UW-L scored 17 runs versus Loras College (Iowa) during the 1965 season. Jay Fanta opened the seventh with a home run and he later added a grand slam in the frame. Poppy had an RBI double for the Eagles while Steinhoff, Corey Geary and Trocke each had RBI singles. Zach Harazin had a solo home run for UW-L.

Harazin added a sacrifice fly for an RBI in the eighth while Hopson hit his second home run of the game in the top of the ninth to finish the scoring.

Zach Lauersdorf (3-3) earned the win in the opener, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing 12 hits, six runs and three walks while striking out 12. Seven of the nine starters in the line-up had at least two hits for UW-L. Geary finished 4-for-6 while Fanta was 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBI. Trocke, Harazin and Poppy each had two RBI while Adam Cordova was 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored. The top-three hitters, Geary, Trocke and Fanta, combined to finish 10-for-15 with six runs and eight RBI.

Brandon Byrne (3-3) suffered the loss for UW-Platteville. He didn't record an out in the seventh, allowing six hits, eight runs and two walks. Steve Nelson started for the Pioneers, going 6.0 innings, allowing nine hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks with two strikeouts. Ney led UW-Platteville with three hits while Brett Benesh, Tyler Jacobson, Hopson and Jason Jacobson each had two hits.

In the nightcap, Jason Jacobson gave UW-Platteville a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth with an RBI single and Tyler Jacobson added an RBI sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 2-0.

UW-L's three run rally in the bottom of the ninth was started on Cordova's infield single. Geary then walked and Trocke was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Fanta reached on a fielder's choice to score Cordova to cut the lead to 3-1. With Fanta running, Harazin reached on a fielder's choice, but Geary was thrown out at home for the second out. Jacobson then hit a soft single to left field and the ball was misplayed by the Pioneers to score both Fanta to tie the game and Harazin with the game-winner.

Steve Henes (1-0) earned the win, going 1.0 inning with one strikeout. Mitch Running went 8.0 innings for the Eagles, allowing 10 hits, two runs and four walks while striking out four. Jacobson was 2-for-4 at the plate.

Wil Osmanski (3-1) suffered the loss for UW-Platteville, pitching 8.2 innings. He allowed five hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks with four strikeouts. Benesh was 3-for-5 with a run scored while Ney and Steve Bomkamp both had two hits for the Pioneers.

UW-L returns to action Friday, April 23. The Eagles will complete their halted game from March 28 against Augsburg College (Minn.) starting at noon at the University of Minnesota's Seibert Field in Minneapolis.