OSHKOSH - The seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team split a pair of games in day one of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Cluster Tournament, dropping a 2-1 game in 10 innings to UW-Oshkosh and earning a 6-3 win over UW-Whitewater.

The Blugolds move to 22-5 on the season and 5-1 in WIAC play with the split.

Eau Claire's first game of the cluster was an all out pitcher's dual between Mallory McKinney (So.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Champlin Park) and Oshkosh's Cassie Goodweiler. McKinney came into the contest 10-2 on the season with a 1.09 ERA while Goodweiler posted a 5-6 record but a 1.51 ERA.

The Blugolds were the first on the board, plating a run in the top of the third when Rachel Paulus (So.-Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) crossed home on a wild pitch. The run would be the last of the game for the Blugolds.

McKinney shut out the Titans through five innings but Oshkosh was finally able to score in the sixth down to its last four outs. Lyndsey Allen came up with a two-out, RBI single to score Lisa Torn and knot the game at one. Neither team was able to mount a rally in the seventh and the game headed to extra innings.

The Blugolds tallied a pair of hits in the eighth and had runners on first and second with two outs but a fly out to center field ended the inning. Eau Claire tallied just one combined hit in the ninth and tenth innings and McKinney continued to baffle the Titan hitters until the last half of the tenth. With Emilie Bach placed on second because of international tiebreaker rules, Carlyn Cooley reached on a fielder's choice and Bach moved to third on a Blugold error. Dani Olsen followed with a single to end the game in walk-off fashion.

McKinney took the tough loss to drop to 10-3 for the year. She pitched nine-plus innings, allowing just six hits and one earned run while striking out five and walking one. Ronessa Stampfli earned the win as she recorded the final two outs of the tenth inning for the Titans. Goodweiler received a no decision after throwing 8 1/3 innings and allowing nine hits and one run while striking out eight and walking one. Jill Janke (Fr.-Black River Falls), Shannon Barone (So.-DePere) and Paulus all recorded two hits on the day as the Blugolds left 13 runners stranded on base.

The Blugolds left just five runners on base in their 6-3 win over Whitewater but kept the Warhawks in the game with four errors. Whitewater jumped on top 1-0 in the top of the first via an RBI groundout but an RBI single by Janke in the bottom half tied the game. The Blugolds worked out of jams in the second, third and fourth innings while Whitewater hurler Dana Jakoubek kept the Eau Claire bats quiet.

The Blugolds broke through with a run in the fourth on an Amanda Bretl (So.-New London) RBI single and tacked on another in the fifth when McKinney launched a solo home run. The Warhawks tied the game in the top of the sixth with a pair of unearned runs but Amber Haack (So.-Madison/LaFollette) delivered the big blow in the bottom half of the inning. With two runners aboard and one out, Haack hit a three-run homer to left field for the 6-3 lead.

Andrea Neuville (Jr.-Green Bay/West) earned the win, tossing a complete game and allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits. She struck out one and walked one to move to 10-2 on the year. McKinney was the only Blugold with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Seven different Blugolds recorded one hit in the game.

Eau Claire is back in action at the WIAC Cluster Tournament tomorrow, when they battle UW-Stevens Point at 8:30 a.m. and UW-Platteville at 2:30 p.m.

Eau Claire-Oshkosh Box Score

Eau Claire-Whitewater Box Score

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