UW-Platteville's Ross Bennett hit two booming home runs that traveled a combined 800 feet, but a 70-foot hit by Edgewood's John Fish made the difference in the Eagles' 6-5 victory over the Pioneers Wednesday at the University of Dubuque's Chlapty Field.
Fish hit a two-out grounder between third base and the pitcher's mound that allowed Alex Berta to score the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Bennett and Mike Flood singled in the bottom of the ninth, but Edgewood turned a nifty 4-6-3 double play to end the contest.
The Eagles, leaders of the Lake Michigan Conference and ranked seventh in the Midwest Region, improved to 22-12, while the Pioneers fell to 15-16.
Bennett absolutely crushed home runs in the first and fifth inning, his eighth and ninth longballs of the year. The sophomore outfielder also broke the Pioneer record for total bases in a season; his ninth-inning single gave him 95. Bennett surpassed the previous record of 92, set by Merrill Brunson in 2002. He has 16 hits in his last 29 at-bats (.552), with five home runs.
Bennett's second home run Wednesday gave the Pioneers a 4-1 advantage. The Eagles tied the score in the seventh after consecutive Pioneer errors. UWP reclaimed the lead at 5-4 in the bottom of the inning when Kal Engelkens tripled and scored on Jared Haxton's fielder's choice. Edgewood's Shawn Burcum tied the game again in the eighth on his second home run of the year.
Both teams used four pitchers, with Bill Dictus pitching 1.2 innings for the victory, and Byran Aspenson taking the hard-luck loss.
The Pioneers play four games at UW-Stout Saturday and Sunday, with both doubleheaders starting at noon.
SCHEDULE CHANGE
The scheduled May 9 game at Augustana has been cancelled. The Pioneers are in the process of confirming dates and times to play at Western Illinois sometime next week to take the place of the Augustana game.
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