CLERMONT, Fla. (
www.blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team competed for their third day in row on Monday as they took on Amherst University and #14 ranked Tufts University out at the Legends Way Fields. The Blugolds found early runs in both games and kept their lead against the Mammoths to earn a 7-5 victory, but fell to the 14
th ranked Jumbos, 9-4.
UW-Eau Claire wasted no time crossing home in game one as
Claire Beck (Jr. – Jefferson, Wis.) singled up the middle to send
Kenna Strunsee (Jr. – Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) in to score after Strunsee was hit by a pitch and stole second. Two batters later,
Ella Henderson (Fr. – Rosemount, Minn.) reached first on a on a defensive error and a follow up throwing error allowed
Molly Marquardt (Fr. – Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln Way West) to score as the took a 3-0 lead.
Norah Kutnik (Fr. – Winneconne, Wis.) kept the bats hot in the top of the second with a leadoff triple down the right field line. Strunsee sacrifice bunted her way onto first, allowing Kutnik to score from third as UWEC took a 4-0 lead.
Ella Henderson recorded her second RBI of the day in the top of the third with a groun dout to the shortstop that allowed
Marney Roemhild (Fr. – Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) to cross home plate for a 5-0 Eau Claire lead.
Amherst refused to go down without a fight as the Mammoths tallied three runs in the bottom of the third and one in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4.
Claire Beck got the Blugolds back in front by two the next inning with a single through the right side that scored
Paige Lathrop (So. – South Milwaukee, Wis.) from second base. The Mammoths answered back in the following half inning as UWEC held a 6-5 lead into the final inning of play.
Claire Beck recorded her third RBI of the game in the top of the seventh with a single down the right field line to score Lathrop again from second base to increase the lead to 7-5.
Lauren Gamme (Sr. – Eagan, Minn.) capped off her 3.2 inning day with a strikeout as the UWEC earned the first game victory.
Jacie Schultz (Jr. – Lake Crystal, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome) earned her third victory of the season in her 2.1 innings pitched. Schultz recorded one strikeout and no walks while allowing just one earned run.
Lauren Gamme earned her first save of the season with two strikeouts, zero walks, and one unearned run.
Game two began in similar fashion for UWEC as
Claire Beck found her fourth and fifth RBI's of the day on a single of the middle in the bottom of the third. Two batters later,
Molly Marquardt singled between third baseman and shortstop to increase the Blugolds' lead to 3-0. The very next at bat saw
Ella Henderson single through the same hole to put UWEC up 4-0 on #14 Tufts.
The nationally ranked Jumbos answered in the following half inning with six runs on five hits to shift the momentum away from the Blugolds. Tufts would add three more runs on the top of the sixth as Eau Claire couldn't find an answer for the top-25 team. UWEC would find a glimmer of hope in the sixth with two base runners on, but neither one found their way across home as the Blugolds fell, 9-4.
The Blugolds (6-4, WIAC 0-0) will take a day off before heading back out to the Legends Way ball fields on Wednesday, March 20
th for games against Luther College and Southern Virginia University.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports.
