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| Brett Benesh makes the final tag |
Posted March 30, 2008
With runners on the corners and two outs in the ninth, UW-Platteville's Matt Paulus threw out UW-Stout's Ryan Stace trying to steal second base, capping a thrilling 7-5 Pioneer victory Sunday.
The Blue Devils salvaged one win in the four-game series at Kendall Murray Field, taking the nightcap 10-7.
In the opener, Paulus blocked a low ball and fired a perfect strike to shortstop Brett Benesh, who applied the tag to Stace and sealed a 3-0 conference start for the Pioneers.
The back-and-forth tussle featured three lead changes and was ultimately decided by the Pioneers' ability to stop runs from scoring. The Blue Devils had runners on base in eight of the nine inning, stranding 10. Joe Cox (5.1 innings), Jay Lindner (2.1) and Aaron Daniels (1.1) shut out Stout over the final three innings, with Cox earning the win and Daniels the save.
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| Matt Paulus tags out Stout's David Larson |
Ross Bennett, Derrick Rice and Gabe Neitzel each had two hits for UWP. Neitzel drove in three runs, including a key insurance run in the seventh when he beat out a two-out bouncer to first, scoring Bennett.
The Blue Devils built a 9-1 lead in the nightcap, all on singles. The Pioneers scored four in the bottom of the fifth, whittling the lead to 9-5 and came within 10-7 on Bennett's two-run triple in the eighth, but could come no closer. Bennett, Benesh and Lee Hawkins each had two hits.
Ben Bengston led the Blue Devils with three hits, while Andy Lorenzon drove home three. Bryan Chalekian earned the victory for Stout, who is now 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the WIAC.
The Pioneers (9-7, 3-1 WIAC) play four games at UW-La Crosse Saturday and Sunday, with both doubleheaders set for noon.
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