By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information

ROCHESTER, Minn. (blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team picked up win number three on the season on Saturday afternoon, but in their second game of the day, they suffered their first defeat.

The Blugolds faced a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents in St. Olaf and St. Catherine in Saturday's action. They topped the Oles in the day's opener but dropped a close match-up with the St. Kate's Wildcats in a battle between two top-15 teams in the nation.

UW-Eau Claire topped St. Olaf by a 5-1 score, with Lauren Blasczyk (Sr.-Appleton, WI/East) getting her third win in as many games. The senior did not go the distance this time, however, as Sarah Peka (Fr.-Chanhassen, MN/Minnetonka) got her first dose of the college softball experience, taking the final three innings of work. Blasczyk struck out three, allowed three hits and the only run, albeit unearned, over the first four innings. Peka had two punch-outs of her own and surrendered three hits in her three shutout innings.

Offensively, the Blugolds were out-hit once again, only accounting for three base-knocks. The key was that they took advantage of four Ole errors in the field, as only one of the five Eau Claire runs scored happened to be earned. Leah Wolff (Sr.-Middleton, WI), Evie Schaller (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, WI/Chi-Hi), and Kelsey Meredith (Sr.-Golden Valley, MN/Armstrong) were the three Blugolds to pick up the hits in the win.

In the marquee match-up between No. 14-ranked Eau Claire and No. 15-ranked St. Catherine, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead. The Blugolds clawed back with three runs in the seventh, but the early deficit was too much to overcome, and St. Kate's eventually earned the 5-4 win.

Both teams posted eight hits apiece with six Blugolds making up the hit totals. Leading the way was Wolff, who went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Schaller knocked in two runs herself, as she, Carlie Christensen (Jr.-Ellsworth, WI/River Falls), and Emily Pomykalski (Sr.-Cross Plains, WI/Middleton) each ripped a double in the loss.

Blasczyk and Peka split the pitching duties at three innings each with the former taking the loss.

The Blugolds return to the field on Thursday, March 16, when they head south for their Spring Break trip in Florida, beginning with the Rebel Games.