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| Joe Lange tossed another complete game |
Posted April 5, 2008
Pitcher Joe Lange continued his hot start, and sophomore Derrick Rice belted his first collegiate home run, leading UW-Platteville to a 6-4 win at UW-La Crosse in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday. The host Eagles won the nightcap 14-4.
Lange threw his second complete game in as many Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference starts, scattering nine hits and allowing just two earned runs. The junior left-hander struck out six while improving to 3-0 on the year.
The Pioneers went up 4-1 in the third inning, with Rice leading off the fourth with a solo home run. Gabe Neitzel followed with a triple, and Lee Hawkins brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Hawkins had three hits, and Neitzel, Rice and Brett Benesh each had two in the 10-hit attack. After the Eagles scored three in the sixth, cutting the lead to 5-4, Hawkins singled and eventually scored on Benesh's single in the eighth, giving Lange and the Pioneers breathing room.
In the nightcap, the Eagles rolled up 13 hits against four Pioneer pitchers to end the game in the seventh due to the 10-run rule. Mike Schmidt drove in five to lead the UW-L attack.
Ross Bennett and Mike Kuhn each had two hits for the Pioneers, and Bennett became the first player in UWP history to surpass 500 career at-bats. The school record-holder in almost every career category, Bennett has 175 hits in those 504 at-bats (.347).
The Pioneers (10-8, 4-2 WIAC) and Eagles (9-9, 2-4) meet in La Crosse again Sunday, beginning at noon.
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