Baseball fans know that the key to success in baseball is pitching.
     Platteville got quality pitching in back-to-back games last week, against Dodgeville Thursday and Lancaster Friday.
     Unfortunately for the Hillmen, the mound performances by Luke Withrow and Mitch Hefty produced only one win, Platteville’s 2–0 win over Lancaster.
     Last Thursday, Withrow allowed just one hit through six shutout innings. However, the Dodgers scored three times in the top of the seventh on two walks and three straight singles to beat the Hillmen 3–2.
     On Friday, Hefty threw a complete-game three-hitter, hitting one batter and walking none, striking out 12. Seven of Hefty’s 12 strikeouts were called strikeouts, including all three outs in the fifth. Hefty struck out the side to end the game.
     Lancaster had scoring chances — in the second, on singles by Nate Tranel and Nate Holzinger; in the third, when Jake Taylor reached after being hit by a pitch and Brett Snider singled; and in the sixth, when Tranel reached on an error and advanced to third. Each of the five base runners was left on base and off home plate.
     Platteville’s offense wasn’t exactly efficient; the Hillmen left 12 runners on base, including bases loaded in the third and in the sixth. But with Hefty’s pitching, the runs the Hillmen got were the only runs they needed.
     William Cooley led off the third inning with a walk, stole second and scored on Adam Brogley’s single. With one out in the fifth, Brogley reached on an error and scored on Luke Withrow’s double.
     Taylor took the loss, giving up two runs, one earned, off Platteville’s nine hits, two walks and two hit batsmen. Taylor struck out five.
SWAL split: Hillmen fall to Iowa–Grant, beat Mineral Point
     In a rare non-conference double header against two different teams Platteville salvaged a split against a pair of SWAL teams Monday evening at Hill Field.
     In game one Platteville committed nine errors and fell 5–2 in eight innings to the visiting Panthers after rallying to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
     Senior William Cooley smacked a two-out double to plate Mitch Niehaus and later scored when Jarred Heer reached on an Iowa–Grant throwing error to extend the game.
     But the Panthers regrouped and scored three unearned runs in the top of the eighth thanks to a pair of Hillmen errors to battle back for the win.
     Sophomore Issac Anderson’s sacrifice fly gave I–G a 3–2 lead, then senior Colin Conner roped a two-out two-run double to provide the final margin.
     Platteville loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but TJ Anderson came on in relief and struck out Jason Withrow, then started a game-ending double play, getting the force out at home then picking off Logan Butson at third to end the game.
     Senior Brent Coppernoll (1–0) picked up the win allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits and five walks in seven-plus innings.
     Iowa–Grant improved to 4–4 overall on the season with the win.
     In Monday’s second game the Platteville rallied from an early 7–4 deficit to win 9–8 in its last at-bat.
     Senior second baseman Tristan Hirsch singled to drive in senior pinch runner Brandon Brant to plate the winning run.
     Platteville improved to 7–5 with the win.
     Senior Luke Withrow (2–1) picked up his second win of the year allowing one unearned run on two hits in two innings of relief.
     Sophomore Jason Withrow went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the win.
    

Dodgeville 3, Platteville 2
(from Thursday, May 1 at Platteville)
Dodgeville    000    000    3    —   3   4  2
Platteville    100    010    0    —   2   5  0
Leading hitters — none. W — Sullivan (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 8 SO, 4 BB). L — Luke Withrow (1–1, 6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 SO, 3 BB).

Platteville 2, Lancaster 0
(from Friday, May 2 at Platteville)
Lancaster    000    000    0    —   0   4  1
Platteville    001    010    x    —   2 10  1
Leading hitters — L: Tranel 2x3; P: William Cooley 3x3, Luke Withrow 3x3. 2B — L: Tranel; P: Cooley, Withrow. W — Mitch Hefty (2–1, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 12 SO, 0 BB). L — Jake Taylor (6 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB).

Iowa–Grant 5, Platteville 2
(from Monday, May 5 at Platteville)
Iowa–Grant    002    000    03    —  5   6  5
Platteville       000    000    20    —  2   6  9
Leading hitters — P: Jason Withrow 2x3. 2B — IG: Colin Conner; P: William Cooley, J. Withrow. W — Brent Coppernoll (1–0, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 5 BB). L — William Cooley (1–2, 8 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 10 SO, 1 BB).

Platteville 9, Mineral Point 8
(from Monday, May 5 at Platteville)
Mineral Point    205    000    1    —  8   6  2
Platteville          312    002    1    —  9 15  5
Leading hitters — MP: Staver 2x4; P: William Cooley 2x4, Mitch Niehaus 3x4, Jason Withrow 3x4, Adam Brogley 2x4. 2B — MP: Ames; P: Cooley. W — Luke Withrow (2–1, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB). L — Alec Schmitz (1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB).

Mineral Point 3, Iowa–Grant 2
(from Friday, May 2 at Mineral Point)
Iowa–Grant       002    000    0    —  2   5  3
Mineral Point    001    010    2     —  3   6  1
Leading hitters — none. 2B — MP: Tanner Ames, Gabe Ottoway, Lee Stephenson. W — Ames (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 11 SO, 4 BB). L — Cody Rider (1–1, 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB).