La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team dropped its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader to UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Pioneers earned a 7-4 win in the opener and 7-6 in the nightcap. UWL drops to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in the WIAC while UW-Platteville improves to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference. 

UW-Platteville, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to UWL, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the opener on Wyatt Molitor's single scoring Ross Krist. UWL responded in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs. Jonathan Wizner reached on a throwing error to start the frame and scored on Mac Born's triple to left center field. Jack Olver then singled to knock in Born to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. 

The Pioneers came right back in the top of the second with five runs on four hits. Jonathan Kelso's two-run triple scored Adam Gutschow and Krist to give UW-Platteville a 3-2 lead. Kelso came in on Jason Adams' single to make it 4-2 and Molitor followed with a two-run home run for a 6-2 lead.  

UW-Platteville added to its lead with a run in the top of the ninth with Krist scoring on a UWL wild pitch. 

UWL rallied in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of runs. Jack Kelly doubled to start the inning and went to third on Zach Carney's single. After Carney advanced to second on a wild pitch, Andrew Rajkovich's groundout scored Kelly to cut the lead to 7-3 with Carney moving to third. Pinch-hitter Jordan Williams was hit-by-pitch and Ty Hamilton walked to load the bases. Carney was forced out at home on Connor Roesler's fielder's choice, but Wizner drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-4. Born's fielder's choice with the bases-loaded ended the game. 

UWL finished with seven hits as Olver and Carney each had two. Four different players recorded an RBI. Brady Schmitt (1-1) took the loss, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing seven hits, six runs and one walk while striking out three. Chris Seveska went 6.0 innings in relief, allowing one hit and three walks with seven strikeouts. Tucker Bouche went 1.0 inning, allowing one run and one walk while striking out two. 

UW-Platteville totaled eight hits in the opener as Krist, Kelso and Molitor each finished with two. Molitor had three RBI while Krist scored three times. Kelso finished with two RBI. Isaac Bixby (1-0) earned the victory, pitching 8.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs (three earned) and one walk while striking out seven. Sam Hernandez picked up his first save, going 0.2 of an inning with two walks. 

In the nightcap, UW-Platteville took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Molitor's single scoring Kelso with an unearned run. UWL tied the game in the bottom of the first and scored four times in the bottom of the second to take a 5-1 lead. Carney opened the bottom of the first with a single, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored on Olver's sacrifice fly to tie the game. Rajkovich reached on a UW-Platteville throwing error to lead-off the second and scored on Anthony Vivian's two-run home run to give UWL a 3-1 lead. Jacob Shamban walked and went to second on Ben LaRonge's sacrifice bunt. After a fly-out, Born walked to put runners on first and second. Both runners advanced into scoring position after a failed pick-off attempt and scored on Kelly's two-run single to make it 5-1.

The Pioneers tallied three runs in the top of the third. Kelso's solo home run made it 5-2 and Jake Wegner later scored on Zach McCoy's single to cut it to 5-3. Molitor scored on a UWL throwing error to make it a one-run game.  UW-Platteville took a 7-5 lead with three runs in the seventh. Molitor's two-run single singled Kelso and Wegner to give the Pioneers a 6-5 lead and Ben Espinoza's single scored Molitor to make it 7-5. 

Born's solo home run in the bottom of the eighth cut the lead to 7-6, but UWL left a pair of runners on base to end the inning. 

Alex Redman (2-2) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing nine hits, six runs (four earned) and two walks while striking out five. The Eagles totaled eight hits with Spencer Hans finishing 2-for-5 and Jacob Shamban 2-for-3. Kelly and Vivian each had two RBI. 

Nate Jennings (1-1) earned the win for UW-Platteville, going 4.0 innings in relief. He allowed four hits, one run and two walks with four strikeouts. Brady Hoppert picked up his first save, pitching 1.0 inning with two strikeouts. The Pioneers had 12 hits with Molitor finishing 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs. Kelso and McCoy each had two hits with Kelso scoring three times.

The teams will play another doubleheader Sunday, April 3 starting at noon.