EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Picking up early runs in both games of a doubleheader against St. Mary's University (Minn.), the UW-Eau Claire softball team recorded two wins at Gelein Field today.

In game one of the doubleheader, Eau Claire scored four runs in the first three innings and went on to win 5-3 while also scoring four runs in the first three innings in game two as the Blugolds won 9-1 in five innings.

Eau Claire has now won four games in a row and five out of the last six to improve to 7-11 on the season. St. Mary's drops to 3-9 overall.

Kaity Acker (Jr.-Cross Plains, Wis./Middleton) had an impressive game one, hitting a home run while scoring one other run. She had three hits in the game and three of the Blugolds' five RBIs to lead the team. Her homer, the second of her career, came in the fifth inning while she also scored in the third.

Katie Stalker (Sr.-Madison, Wis./La Follette) got the Blugolds on the board first in the bottom of the opening inning, and Emily Muller (So.-Lancaster, Wis.) added a run in the second while Aleisha Harper (So.-Mondovi, Wis./Eau Claire North) scored in the third.

While St. Mary's scored three runs in the top of the sixth, the Blugolds were able to hold on for the win. Ashley Meinen (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) earned the victory in the circle for the Blugolds to improve to 3-2 on the season after pitching four innings. Kassie Krummel (Fr.-Walcott, Iowa/Durant) struck out two batters, pitching the final three innings.

In game two, after scoring four runs in the first three innings, the Blugolds used a big fifth inning to end the game early.

Samantha Weix (Fr.-Elk Mound, Wis.) capped the game with an exciting run to put the Blugolds up by eight. With the bases loaded and two outs, the St. Mary's catcher dropped the third strike against Jess Freagon (So.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell), which gave the Blugolds an opportunity to score a run. The Cardinals' catcher had trouble finding the ball and Weix was able to make it home before the catcher could recover.

Freagon, Sara Baumgartner (Jr.-Arcadia, Wis.), Ashley Kenworthy (Fr.-Tomah, Wis.), and Muller also scored runs in the fifth inning. Stalker once again had the Blugolds opening run in the first inning while she scored again in the third along with Harper and Jenny Hess (Fr.-Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln).

The Blugolds ended with 12 hits in game two. Eau Claire also had one error in the game while St. Mary's had two, one in the first inning and one in the third inning. The Cardinals also had three errors in game one.

Jess Hegseth (Fr.-Zumbrota , Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa ) pitched for Eau Claire the entire second game and improved to 2-6 on the year. She struck out three batters while facing 22.

The Blugolds will open conference play tomorrow at UW-River Falls with a doubleheader. Action is set to get underway at 3 p.m.