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| Addy Hart tossed a two-hitter |
Freshman Addy Hart tossed a two-hitter, and UW-Platteville hit three home runs, leading the Pioneers past UW-Stout 9-1 Sunday. The visiting Blue Devils won the first game 4-3.
Hart, from Hortonville, brought in a 2-8 record and had allowed at least seven runs each game coming into the contest. On Sunday, she mowed down UW-Stout and struck out a career-high six batters.
"I was much more relaxed," she said. "I always have confidence in my defense, and I just felt comfortable out there. As soon as I walked out there, I thought 'this is it.' "
Pioneer Coach Heather Townsend was impressed with Hart's performance.
"She's improved a lot," the second-year coach said. "She's getting more confident and getting used to drowning out the crowd and everything else."
Nikki Hansen broke a scoreless tie with a home to lead off the fourth inning. The Pioneers put up five more runs after two were out, with Mandy Cerqua and Tera Burr hitting two-run singles and Kiersten Henn recording an RBI single.
Burr hit a two-run home run and Digman a solo HR in the sixth to end the game via the eight-run rule.
Counting Lindsay Weigand's blast in the first game, the Pioneers now have a school-record 24 home runs this season.
"Hard work in the batting cages has paid off," Townsend said. "We do hit a lot. We haven't been able to get outside too often, so we've spent a lot of time inside hitting."
The Blue Devils took advantage of the outdoors to win game one. Dana Kotval hit a high fly ball was lost in the sun and dropped in the infield in the fifth inning. She scored on Tara Donahue's sacrifice fly, breaking a 2-2 tie. Both teams scored unearned runs in the sixth inning, and Burr was stranded on second base in the seventh inning to end the game.
Weigand's home run gave the Pioneers a 1-0 second-inning lead. Stout's Megan McDonald hit a two-run double in the top of the fourth, and UWP's Dru Schneider tied the game in the bottom of the frame with a out-out run-scoring double.
The Blue Devil's Jessica Glasow earned the win in relief, while the Pioneers' Maggie Medlicott was the hard-luck loser, allowing three earned runs and striking out five.
UW-Platteville is now 7-15 overall and 1-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while UW-Stout is 11-9, 2-2.
The Pioneers play host to Clarke Tuesday at 5 p.m.