With the wintery weather conditions Wisconsin has had as of late, it might be hard to believe that baseball season is in full swing at UW-Platteville. However, the Pioneers were finally able to get their first glimpse of action from somewhere other than the confines of the Pioneer Activity Center as they traveled to Greenville, Ill., on March 12.

After postponing their season opener for nearly two weeks due to inclement weather and poor playing conditions, the UW-P baseball team stepped onto the field for the first time this year with a doubleheader against the Greenville College Panthers.

“As a player, you get really excited to start playing, especially when you haven’t even been outside for one practice,” senior utility player Nick Aplin said. “Unfortunately, weather is a big part of playing baseball in Wisconsin.”

The Pioneers won their long-awaited season opener with a 3-1 victory over the Panthers, but lost a hard fought 9-8 battle in their second game.

“Our first day on the field was the first day we had games, so it took some adjustments obviously,” Steve Bomkamp, sophomore outfielder, said. “We were all really excited to get out there and play games, but at the same time, we were adjusting on the fly to outdoor conditions.”

While it was junior pitcher Joe Lange’s four-hitter that helped lead to the victory in the first game for the Pioneers, it was the Panthers’ ability to prey on two Pioneer errors in the second game which led to two runs in the bottom of the sixth en route to their 9-8 victory.

Greenville hosted the Pioneers again the following day where both teams suffered a similar fate, splitting the doubleheader once again. UW-P opened with a 5-3 victory and capped the night off with a 5-1 loss.

Including the four games against Greenville, the Pioneers went on to play two more doubleheaders in the following three days as they embarked on their spring break road trip.

“Everybody was so anxious to play games that we didn’t even realize how many we played in that short of time. We just wanted to play,” junior starting pitcher Joe Cox said.

While in Missouri, UW-P faced Maryville University where they played two games for the price of one, turning their scheduled single game into a doubleheader. The Pioneers took two victories to the bank on March 14, sweeping the Saints 5-1 and 8-6.

Aaron Daniels threw six shutout innings in the opener, scattering six hits and striking out four batters. Mike Flood and Ross Bennett contributed three hits apiece.

Falling in their first game of their doubleheader at Westminster College 9-6, the Pioneers rallied back in the second game to shutout the Blue Jays 9-0.

Wil Osmanski allowed two hits over six innings of play, walking two batters and striking out five. The bats of Flood and Bomkamp helped the Pioneers on the offensive side of things, with each hitting two-run home runs. Bennett and Jerod Haxton each had three hits during the game.

“Four doubleheaders in five days is nearly a quarter of our regular season in less than a week, so there really isn’t much time for slumps or bad outings,” Bomkamp said. “Our main focus prior to heading south was to be fully prepared so the adjustments weren’t too difficult.”

With the pitching staff and the club’s batting really starting to heat up, the Pioneers are looking strong from top to bottom.

“This is the deepest team that I have ever been a part of, for sure,” Aplin said. “It is nice to have confidence in any position player or pitcher that coach puts into the game.”

The Pioneers currently hold an overall record of 5-6. The team, comprised of nine seniors, looks to make waves in the WIAC as they host UW-Stout to two doubleheaders on March 29-30.

“With so many seniors and such a deep team, we are looking to push it to the next level,” Bomkamp said. “The conference tournament isn’t out of sight and anything beyond is possible as well. We are trying to take this season one step at a time though and want to be playing our best at the end of the season when it counts.”