EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The 25th-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team started off its 2008 NCAA Division III Softball Regional Championship in dominating fashion with a 10-0 win over North Central College (Ill.) in five innings.

Eau Claire advances to face either Aurora University (Ill.) or conference foe No. 14 UW-Oshkosh on Friday.

Jenny Ross (Fr.-Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley) helped Eau Claire advance that far with a one-hitter over the Cardinals. She went all five and struck out two to improve to 20-2.

The offense gave her two runs in the third, but the rest came in an eight-run fifth. The third-inning tallies came off a squeeze play by Tamara Zeman (So.-Lodi, Wis.) and error by the pitcher during the same play.

The Blugolds put up seven of their 11 hits in the fifth and also took advantage of a walk and an error. Michelle Butkus (Sr.-Medford, Wis.), Kristi Doucette (Jr.-Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon) and Bekki Kidnie (So.-St. Paul, Minn./Johnson) each had an RBI single while Ross had an RBI double. Casey Leisgang (Sr.-Seymour, Wis.) had a bases-clearing triple with two down to move the Blugolds to double-digits. Only half of the runs in the game were earned as the Cards committed three errors.

Leisgang went 3 for 4 and knocked in three while scoring once. Doucette had a 2-for-2 game with a run and an RBI. Nine different Blugolds scored during the game.

The Blugolds will play the winner of the Aurora-Oshkosh game tomorrow at 6 p.m. on Gelein Field.

Eau Claire-North Central Box Score

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