La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team rallied for a 14-13 win in 10 innings over UW-Platteville in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) Wednesday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Eagles improve to 30-11 on the season while the Pioneers finish 15-26. UWL has won 14 of its last 15 games overall.

It marks UWL's fifth 30-win season in school history, all coming under head coach Chris Schwarz. The Eagles won a school record 39 games in 2016, finishing 39-10 overall and advancing to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. UWL won 36 games in 2015 (36-16), 34 in 2012 (34-11) and 31 in 2017 (31-19).

With the win, UWL advances to the league's double-elimination tournament set for Friday, May 21-Saturday, May 22 at UW-Whitewater. UWL, the tournament's third-seed, will face second-seeded UW-Whitewater at 10 a.m. on Friday. Fourth-seeded UW-Stout faces top-seeded UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m.  UW-Stout advanced in the tournament with a 2-0 home win over UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday. 

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning Wednesday with an unearned run. Jonathan Kelso reached a two-base error by the Eagles and later scored on a Austin Pullara's two-out single. 

UW-Platteville sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the second, scoring four runs. Logan Kozak led-off with a bunt single and stole second. After Ben Espinoza walked with out out, Kozak scored on a Ross Krist RBI double to make it 2-0. Kelso was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Jason Adams popped out for the second out of the inning, but Pullara's two-run single knocked in Espinoza and Krist for a 4-0 advantage. Kelso and Pullara then moved up on a wild pitch and Mitchell McLaughlin's infield single scored Kelso for a 5-0 lead.

UWL got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Brennan Schmitt walked to lead-off the inning and after a pair of strikeouts, moved to second as Shane Coker was hit-by-pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Ethan Gerstner walked to load the bases and Parker Plume delivered a two-run single to cut the lead to 5-2. 

Each team scored a run in the third inning. Kozak scored on a wild pitch for UW-Platteville in the top of the inning for a 6-2 advantage. UWL got its run after Zach Carney walked, went to third on Mac Born's single and scored on a Jack Olver sacrifice fly. 

The Eagles cut the lead to 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Born singled with one out and went to third on Jack Olver's double. Coker was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Gerstner's single scored Born to make it 6-4 and Connor Roesler drew a bases-loaded walk to score Olver to cut the lead to one. 

UW-Platteville took a 7-5 lead in the seventh on Kozak's double scoring McLaughlin.  UWL tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Coker walked to start the inning and went to third after a failed pick-off attempt. Gerstner followed with a RBI single to knock in Coker and make it a one-run game. Gerstner went to second on Plume's sacrifice bunt and scored on Roesler's double to tie the game. 

The Pioneers responded with three runs in the eighth to take a 10-7 lead. Pinch-hitter Jake Wegner singled to start the inning and scored after a throwing error on a fielder's choice off the bat of Krist. Kelso followed with a two-run home run to give UW-Platteville a three-run lead. The Pioneers added to their lead in the top of the ninth with Andrew Zakula scoring on a Krist sacrifice fly to make it 11-7.

UWL rallied in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Plume walked with one out and scored on Roesler's two-run home run to cut the lead to 11-9. Jonathan Wizner then walked and went to second on Schmitt's two-out single. Born followed with a single to load the bases and Olver drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 11-10. Schmitt scored the tying run as Coker reached on a UW-Platteville fielding error. The Eagles left the bases-loaded for the third time in the game. 

UW-Platteville took a 13-11 lead in the top of the 10th. Wyatt Molitor walked to start the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Joe Brickey. Pullara's sacrifice bunt moved Brickey to second with one out. Hunter Hopkins' infield single put two runners on base. After a strikeout, Kozak reached on catcher's interference to load the bases and Grant Mullins gave the Pioneers a 13-11 lead with a two-run single scoring Brickey and Hopkins. 

UWL rallied again in the bottom half of the inning. Plume singled to start the 10th and went to second on Roesler's single. Andres Yance came into pitch for UW-Platteville and hit Wizner to load the bases. Colton Schraepfer pinch-ran for Wizner. Carney then delivered a two-run single scoring Plume and Roesler to tie the game. Schmitt was intentionally walked and with Born at the plate, Schraepfer scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
 

Sawyer Phillips (6-2) earned the win for UWL, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing two hits, two runs and one walk with one strikeout. Brady Schmitt started for the Eagles, going 2.0 innings, allowing seven hits, six runs (five earned) and two walks while striking out two. Chris Seveska pitched 5.0 innings in relief. He allowed two hits and one run with seven strikeouts. Alex Mach pitched 2.0 innings, allowing four hits and four runs (two earned) with three strikeouts 

The Eagles totaled 16 hits with Born finishing 4-for-5 with one run. Roesler went 3-for-4 with four RBI, three walks and two runs. Gerstner and Plume each had two hits and two RBI while Plume also scored twice. Gerstner scored one run. Schmitt and Coker each scored twice. UWL left 15 runners on base. 

Yance (0-2) suffered the loss for UW-Platteville. He allowed one hit, one run and one walk. Michael Greco started for the Pioneers, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing three hits, three runs and four walks with two strikeouts. 

The Pioneers finished with 15 hits. McLaughlin went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI while Kozak finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Pullara had a team-high three RBI while Krist, Kelso and Mullins each finished with two. Kelso scored three times while Krist and Kozak each scored twice.