The UW-Platteville softball team played the earliest game in WIAC history in their season opener at the University of Northern Iowa Dome in a doubleheader against Mount Mercy on Feb. 6.

The Mount Mercy Mustangs won the first game on the strength of a seven-run second inning. The Pioneers never fully recovered from the inning, and lost by a final tally of 10-3 according to the UW-P Sports Information Web site.

The game was the first college contest for the 14 freshman players on the team, which has 22 players in all. Freshman pitcher Courtney Ryan partly attributed the first-game performance to nerves.

“A lot of it was nerves, primarily for the freshman, but the second game we came back and dominated,” Ryan said.

Junior catcher Mandy Cerqua believes the nerves may have actually helped the team in the second game.

“We had an intensity that carried from the end of the first game into the second game,” Cerqua said.

The Pioneers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead after two innings in the evening game. At the end of the fourth inning, the Pioneers were holding onto a 9-6 lead and headed to the plate to start off the final inning. Sophomore outfielder Brittany Kalscheur started off the inning with a triple and crossed the plate on an error by the Mount Mercy right fielder.

Stolen bases by sophomore outfielder Whitney Foltz and freshman centerfielder Megan Pozezinski, combined with two more Mustang errors, led to the UW-P scoring five runs in the fifth inning.

Freshman pitcher Amanda Farley took over in the fifth inning to relieve Ryan, who spread eight runs over four innings to help earn the Pioneer win. The Pioneers’ recorded the Mustangs’ third and final out of the fifth inning and won by a final score of 14-12.

Senior second baseman Tera Burr, who scored four runs in the second game of the double-header at the UNI-Dome, was a preseason All-American pick by Division III Softball—The Newsletter.

“I didn’t expect that,” Burr said. “To be honest, I tell myself I didn’t make it so that I don’t get complacent. If you’re there, it’s because of your teams and coaches.”

The Pioneer softball team now looks forward to spending their spring break in Arizona at the 2009 Tucson Invitational Games, where their first contest will come against SUNY College Oneonta at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14.