Weekend sweep topped off by pair of 2-1 wins over Pioneers

UW-Stout 2, UW-Platteville 1 (8 inn) | UW-Stout 2, UW-Platteville 1

MENOMONIE (April 22, 2018) - UW-Stout completed a weekend conference sweep with a pair of 2-1 win over UW-Platteville Sunday at Don and Nona Williams Stadium.

The Blue Devils' (16-5, 4-2 WIAC) Beth Wood went the distance in the circle to win game one and drove in both runs, including a single to bring home Kaylee Francois in the bottom of the eighth inning,

With the scored knotted at 1 apiece heading into the eighth inning, Wood got some help from her defense when first baseman Alicia Meyer snagged a line-drive and turned it into a double play to erase the Pioneers (16-14, 3-7 WIAC).

In the bottom half of the inning with one out, Wood brought home Francois with a single to left field. In the sixth inning, Wood scored Mary Iliopoulos from second base with a double to tie the score. The Pioneers scored first in the game when Kylie Ackerman hit a third inning pinch hit double to bring in Rachel Bonnell.

Wood was 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and, from the circle, struck out five, scattered seven hits and one earned run to take her eighth win of the season. Ilioppulos was 2-for-4.
 
In the nightcap, Alicia Meyer hit a two-run double to left field in the third inning and the Blue Devil defense made the 2-1 lead standup. The Pioneers stranded seven runners as Melea Bruns struck out four and allowed no earned runs, allowing five hits, over 4.1 innings. Sommer Kunstmann came on to earn the save, pitching 2.2 innings of hitless ball.

At one point, it looked like the Pioneers were going to make a 1-0 lead stand-up after scoring a run in the third. Pioneer pitcher Ashton Hoeppner sent 14 consecutive Blue Devils down in order from the second inning into the sixth innings when Iliopoulos reached on two outs before Wood drove her home. Stout got six of their eight hits in the game starting with two outs in the sixth inning.

Iliopoulos and Katelyn Schobert both went 2-for-3 in the game.
 
The wins gave Stout a conference weekend sweep. Stout defeated UW-La Crosse, 6-3, 4-3, Saturday.

The Blue Devils are scheduled to host UW-River Falls, Tuesday, April 24 at 4 p.m., then are scheduled to play at UW-Eau Claire, Wednesday, April 25.