Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep at UW-Platteville Tuesday afternoon at Kendall Murray Field.  The Eagles won the opener, 18-6 in seven innings, and the nightcap, 13-6.  UWL improves to 8-4 overall and 3-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while UW-Platteville drops to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference. 

UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Mac Born reached on an error with two outs and scored on Brennan Schmitt's RBI triple. UW-Platteville scored five runs on two outs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-1 advantage. Jason Adams gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead on a two-run single. Grant Mullins was hit-by-pitch with the bases-loaded to make it 3-1 and Andrew Zakula followed with a two-run single to give UW-Platteville a four-run lead. 

The Eagles cut the lead to 5-3 in the top of the third. Shane Coker singled and went to second after Schmitt was hit-by-pitch. Ethan Gerstner's RBI single knocked in Coker to make it 5-2 and Schmitt later scored on a wild pitch.   

UWL sent 13 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth, scoring nine runs on seven hits and three UW-Platteville errors to take a 12-5 lead. Schmitt scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 5-4 and Colton Schraepfer's double scored Gerstner with the tying run. Parker Plume gave the Eagles a 7-5 lead on a two-run double and Zach Carney's RBI bunt single made it 8-5. Born later doubled to score two runs for a 10-5 advantage and Gerstner finished the scoring with a two-run single. 

After UW-Platteville's Logan Kozak's sacrifice fly scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 12-6, UWL tallied five runs on six hits in the top of the sixth to make it 17-6. Carney started the scoring with an RBI triple to score Plume while Coker delivered a sacrifice fly to knock in Carney. Schmitt's RBI double scored Born who had walked in the inning and Gerstner finished the scoring with a two-run single. Jack Olver finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly to score Connor Roesler in the top of the seventh.

All nine starters recored a hit and scored a run in the opener for UWL. Gerstner finished 4-for-5 with two runs and five RBI while Roesler went 3-for-5 with two runs. Carney, Schmitt, Schraepfer and Parker Plume each had two hits. Born and Schmitt each scored three times. Carney, Coker and Plume also scored twice. 

Zach Pronschinske (2-1) earned the win for UWL, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing nine hits, six runs and two walks while striking out five. Brady Schmitt pitched 2.0 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts. 

UW-Platteville totaled 10 hits in the game. Jonathan Kelso and Ross Krist each finished with two. Michael Greco (0-1) suffered the loss for UW-Platteville, going 4.0 innings, allowing five hits, six runs (four earned) and two walks with four strikeouts. The Pioneers committed five errors in the game. 

Both teams scored a run in the first inning in the nightcap Tuesday. Carney opened the game reaching on a UW-Platteville error and advanced to second on a Roesler sacrifice bunt. Born followed with an RBI double to make it 1-0. The Pioneers came back to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning on Kelso's solo home run. UW-Platteville took a 2-1 lead in the second on a lead-off home run by Krist. 
 

UWL took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the top of the third. Roesler singled to start the inning followed by a Born walk. Schmitt followed with a three-run home run. UW-Platteville responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to retake the lead. Krist walked with the bases-loaded to make it 4-3 and Wyatt Molitor was hit-by-pitch with the bases-loaded to tie the game. Austin Pullara later singled to give the Pioneers a 5-4 advantage. UWL tied the game in the fourth with Schraepfer scoring on Roesler's sacrifice bunt. 

The Eagles took the lead for good with three runs in the sixth. Born's two-out infield single scored Plume for the go-ahead run and Schmitt followed with his second home run of the game to score Born. Carney's RBI single with two outs in the seventh scored Schraepfer to make it 9-5. Pullara two-out single for UW-Platteville in the eighth cut the lead to 9-6, but UWL tallied four runs in the ninth. Wizner's single scored Coker for a 10-5 and Plume later delivered a three-run home run to knock in Wizner and Schraepfer to finish the scoring.

UWL totaled 13 hits in the nightcap Tuesday as Wizner finished 3-for-4. Schmitt went 2-for-5 with two runs and five RBI while Plume finsihed 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. Born was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI and Coker finished 2-for-5 with a run. Schraepfer scored three runs. 

Alex Mach (1-0) earned the victory for UWL, pitching 4.2 innings in relief. He allowed two hits while recording six strikeouts. 

UWL hit .388 (31-of-80) in the doubleheader with 31 runs, six doubles, two triples and three home runs. The Eagles recorded a .625 slugging percentage and finished with eight walks and finished five-of-five in stolen base attempts.

UW-Platteville finished with seven hits as Pullara went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Nate Jennings suffered the loss for the Pioneers, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing four hits, four runs and one walk. 

UWL and UW-Platteville will play a WIAC doubleheader on Friday, April 9 at 1 p.m. at Copeland Park.