Ashley Strnad's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh gave UW-Platteville a dramatic 10-9 victory over UW-Whitewater and a big sweep of Friday's doubleheader.
The Pioneers won the opener 4-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup of rivals.
Becky Swanson led off the seventh with a single to left field, and Kiersten Henn followed by muscling a ball to right, moving Swanson to third. The Warhawks wanted no part of freshman Tera Burr, who was 4x4, and intentionally walked her, loading the bases. After UWW recorded a strikeout, Strnad laced a 1-2 pitch to left field for the game-winner.
The sweep raised the Pioneers' record to 10-14 overall and 5-5 in the WIAC, while the Warhawks slipped to 15-9, 4-6.
The Pioneers rallied for the second-game victory after seeing the Warhawks erase a 6-1 UWP lead. The Warhawks took a 9-8 lead when Suzanne Gersich blasted a towering three-run home run to right field in the sixth inning. The Pioneers tied the score in the bottom of the sixth when Strnad doubled and scored on Patty Meoska's single down the left-field line.
The Warhawks put two on base in the top of the seventh, but Katie Larson struck out pinch-hitter Nicole Buthon, keeping the game tied and setting the stage for the game-winning rally.
Burr's four hits paced a 13-hit attack, with Strnad getting three hits, and Maggie Digman two. Digman had a two-run double in the Pioneer second, then scored on Lindsay Weigand's triple.
Erin Langone had four hits for the Warhawks, while Gersich had three hits and four RBIs.
Larson, who went the distance in the opener, came back to throw 4.2 innings of relief to earn both of Friday's wins. She limited the Warhawks to five hits in the opener, yielding just one earned run.
In the first game, Strnad hit sacrifice flies to score runs in both the third and fourth innings. The Warhawks scored two in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of Pioneer errors. Renee Hamilton led off the seventh with a single, but was stranded at second base to end the game.
The wins were the first two at home for the Pioneers, who started 0-6 at the UWP Softball Complex.
UW-Platteville returns to action Monday, playing a pair of games at Edgewood College, beginning at 4 p.m. The final home games are Thursday vs. UW-Oshkosh, beginning at 3 p.m.
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