BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire softball team allowed nine runs on the day as it fell twice to Illinois Wesleyan University at IWU Field today.

The Blugolds once again allowed runs early on and could not recover in both games. In the first game, IWU scored one run in the bottom of the first inning and went on to win 2-1. In the second game, the Titans scored one run in each of the first two innings and, combined with a big fifth inning, went on to win 7-1.

While the Blugolds found themselves down in game one, they tied it up in the fourth inning after an Aleisha Harper (So.-Mondovi, Wis./Eau Claire North) run. The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when the Titans scored the go-ahead run to make the score 2-1. The Blugolds finished with two errors in the game.

In game two, after the Titans went up by two, the Blugolds closed to within one run in the third inning after Harper scored an unearned run.

However, the Titans recorded five hits in the fifth inning and scored four runs while the Blugolds committed one error. Eau Claire also committed an error in the sixth inning and Illinois Wesleyan added another run to take the 7-1 victory.

The Blugolds managed just one hit in game one but had four in the second game, with all five coming from separate players. Bekki Kidnie (Sr.-St. Paul, Minn./Johnson) and Ainsley Klar (Sr.-La Crosse, Wis./Aquinas) each picked up RBIs in the doubleheader.

Kassie Krummel (Fr.-Walcott, Iowa/Durant) pitched the entire first game and struck out four batters while giving up four hits. In game two, Ashley Meinen (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) picked up her first start of the season and pitched five innings. She gave up two run while striking out one batter. Krummel relieved Meinen in the fifth inning but after facing six batters and giving up four hits and four runs, only one of which was earned, Meinen came back in to finish the inning. Jess Hegseth (Fr.-Zumbrota , Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa ) pitched the final inning and faced five batters, striking out one while allowing one run.

The Blugolds will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Chicago to face the University of Chicago in a doubleheader, which is slated to begin at 3 p.m.