RIVER FALLS - The 15th-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team fell to UW-Oshkosh 3-1 in the opening game but came back to defeat UW-Stevens Point 1-0 in the nightcap at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Cluster held here today.

The Blugold offense couldn't get going in the opening game against the Titans. Oshkosh pitcher Ronessa Stampfli scattered seven Eau Claire hits and stranded five Blugold base runners.

The game went scoreless through the first four innings with Eau Claire pitcher Andrea Neuville (Jr.-Green Bay/West) stranding five Titan base runners in scoring position. Oshkosh left runners on second and third in the first and fourth innings and stranded a runner on third in the second.

The Titans finally got to Neuville in the fifth scoring two runs. The Blugolds came back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the fifth on Jill Janke's (Fr.-Black River Falls) fifth home run of the year.

Molly Johnson (Jr.-Wisconsin Rapids/Lincoln) pitched the final two innings for Eau Claire giving up a solo home run in the top of the seventh. The Blugolds put a runner on third in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to push a run across.

Neuville took the loss to fall to 13-3 on the year. She gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out three.

The Blugolds faced the Pointers in the nightcap in a pitcher's duel in which each team had only three hits. Mallory McKinney (So.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Champlin Park) led Eau Claire in the win allowing only three hits in seven innings to improve to 13-4 on the year.

The lone run of the game came in Eau Claire's half of the third inning. Steph Salter (So.-Schofield/D.C. Everest) reached on an error and stole second. Salter came all the way around to score on the steal attempt on a throwing error by the Pointer catcher.

The split today leaves the Blugolds with an 11-3 record in WIAC action and a 28-7 record overall. Eau Claire remains on top of the conference standings with UW-Stout blanking Oshkosh 4-0 to drop the Titans to 9-4 in the WIAC.

Eau Claire will open against UW-Whitewater tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. and conclude the cluster with a 12:30 p.m. game against UW-Platteville.

Eau Claire-Oshkosh Box Score

Eau Claire-Stevens Point Box Score

- JL -