EAU CLAIRE - The seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team will put its perfect 4-0 conference record on the line this weekend, when the Blugolds travel to Oshkosh for the first of two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Clusters.

The Blugolds' first game will be Saturday at 10:00 a.m. against host Oshkosh. Eau Claire will also battle Whitewater a 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and then Stevens Point Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and Platteville at 2:30 p.m.

The Blugolds are fresh off a doubleheader sweep of La Crosse in which the Eau Claire pitching staff limited the Eagles to one run on 10 hits in 14 innings. The Blugolds won the games by scores of 1-0 and 3-1.

Mallory McKinney (So.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Champlin Park) pitched a complete game, four hit shutout against the Eagles and will likely get the nod for two of the four games this weekend. She is 10-2 on the season with a 1.09 ERA and has struck out 72 hitters in 89.2 innings pitched. Andrea Neuville (Jr.-Green Bay/West) earned the win in game two on Thursday to move to 9-2 on the year with a microscopic 0.81 ERA. The Blugolds as a team are yielding just a 1.03 ERA and allowing opposing hitters a miniscule .186 batting average.

The Blugold offense has been clicking so far this season, posting a .291 team batting average with 12 home runs. Heading into Thursday, Eau Claire led the WIAC in hits (178), runs scored (130), RBI (115), doubles (32), home runs (11), total bases (251), walks (63) and tied for the league lead with 32 stolen bags.

Jill Janke (Fr.-Black River Falls) leads the Blugolds among regulars with a .378 batting average and 23 RBI. Newcomer Casey Leisgang (Fr.-Seymour) has excelled from the leadoff position this season, tallying a .364 batting average with a team best five home runs and 25 runs scored. Amanda Bretl (So.-New London) is hitting .421 in limited action (8-for-19) but has three home runs since Sunday's 8-0 win against Northland. Steph Farenbaugh (Jr.-Brownton, MN/McLeod West) is hitting .344 on the season with 18 runs scored and 13 RBI while the current WIAC Position Player of the Week McKinney is hitting .318 with a home run and 16 driven in.

UW-Oshkosh heads into this weekend with an overall record of 12-7-1 and 2-0 in WIAC action. Whitney Tyriver leads the Titans with a .441 batting average and 14 runs scored. The Titans are hitting just .251 as a team despite Tyriver's high average. Anne Stanislawski leads the team with 13 RBI while the Titans have yet to hit a long ball this season.

UW-Whitewater will bring a 9-12 record into play Saturday and has yet to win a conference game in four tries. Colleen Boilini leads the WIAC with a .426 batting average while Kyley Shramek leads the team with 17 RBI.

The action kicks off this Saturday in Oshkosh when the Blugolds battle the Titans at 10:00 a.m.

WIAC Cluster Web site

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