EAU CLAIRE - The eighth-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team had little trouble in the first day of the 2005 Eau Claire Invitational, topping Elmhurst (IL) 6-0 and UM-Morris 16-2 in six innings here today at Gelein Field.

The wins stretches the Blugolds win streak to 12 consecutive games as they move to 18-3 on the season after starting the year 2-2. Elmhurst falls to 8-6 after the loss while UM-Morris goes to 2-22 for the season.

Mallory McKinney (So.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Champlin Park) paved the way to the Eau Claire victory over Elmhurst, tossing a complete game, two-hit shutout to move to 9-1 on the season. She recorded six strikeouts while walking just one hitter. McKinney has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings.

The Blugolds went to work in the bottom half of the first inning, putting two runs on the board for a quick lead. With two outs and nobody on, Steph Farenbaugh (Jr.-Brownton, MN/McLeod West) hit a single and stole second before McKinney launched a deep, two-run home run to give herself some early run support.

Casey Leisgang (Fr.-Seymour) made it a 3-0 game in the second with an RBI single and padded the lead with a solo home run in the fifth. The Blugolds finished the scoring in the bottom of the sixth, adding two more runs on a Terisa Syvertsen (Jr.-Woodbury, MN) RBI double and an RBI groundout by Shannon Barone (So.-DePere).

McKinney finished the game 2-for-2 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored while Leisgang was 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored.

The Blugold bats went crazy in game two against UM-Morris as they slugged 18 hits to score 16 runs, including a 10-run sixth inning. With Eau Claire already holding a 6-2 advantage, the Blugolds sent 13 women to the plate in the sixth inning. After an RBI single by McKinney with the bases loaded, Jill Janke (Fr.-Black River Falls) crushed a grand slam to center field to give Eau Claire an 11-2 lead. Amber Haack (So.-Madison/LaFollette) added a two-run single and three Morris errors lead to the final three runs of the inning.

Five different Blugolds recorded multi-hit games while three had multi-RBI games. McKinney finished the game a perfect 5-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored while Janke finished 2-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored. Steph Salter (So.-Schofield/D.C. Everest) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored while Molly Blakewell (Sr.-Eau Claire/North) finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Farenbaugh was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI at the top of the lineup.

Andrea Neuville (Jr.-Green Bay/West) earned the win, tossing five innings and allowing two runs on two hits. She moves to 7-2 on the year.

Eau Claire will be back in action tomorrow with perhaps their toughest game coming at 1:30 p.m. against St. Scholastica. The Blugolds will also battle Northland at 5:30 p.m. at Gelein Field.

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