MILWAUKEE, Wis. (
www.blugolds.com) – After more than a week away from the ball fields, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team was back on the diamond on Friday for a nonconference doubleheader away from home against the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders. The Blugolds caught fire at the plate during both games as UWEC combined for 25 hits and 18 runs in 13 innings played to sweep MSOE, 6-3 and 12-2.
Game one began in the opposition's favor as the Raiders jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a home run.
Molly Marquardt (Fr. – Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln Way West) began her stellar offensive day with an RBI single in the fourth inning to score
Marney Roemhild (Fr. – Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) from second base to tie the game at 1-1. The Blugolds found their first lead of the afternoon in the fifth inning as
Miranda Gernander (Fr. – Coleraine, Minn./Greenway) doubled to left field, bringing
Megan Patterson (Jr. – Johnsburg, Ill.)) across home plate for the 2-1 lead. MSOE answered in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single that scored two runs to put the Blugolds behind, 2-3.
Molly Marquardt wasn't done after her tying RBI in fourth as she blasted a two-run home run over the left field fence to put UWEC back on top, 4-3. Marquardt's second home run of the season would be the eventual game-winning run as
Lauren Trottier (Fr. – Burlington, Wis./Elkhorn) pitched two scoreless innings to keep the Raiders off the board in the sixth and seventh innings.
Breann Blanchard (Fr. – Rockford, Minn.) and
Kenna Strunsee (Jr. – Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) joined in on the fun in the seventh as Blanchard scored from third after a failed pickoff attempt by MSOE's catcher and Strunsee crossed home plate on a
Paige Lathrop (So. – South Milwaukee, Wis.) RBI single to seal the 6-3 victory in game one.
Lauren Trottier earned her first win as a Blugold with her four innings of relief by allowing just three hits, two runs, and collecting three strikeouts.
The second game of the evening carried momentum over from the first as
Megan Patterson got the Blugolds on the board in the second inning with an RBI single to score
Molly Marquardt for a 1-0 lead. Patterson crossed home plate herself during the next at bat as
Emma Raikowski (So. – Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) recorded her first career RBI double into left field to extend the lead to 2-0. Before the end of the inning, Raikowski crossed home herself after an errant throw to third allowed her to tag up two bases from second, extending the UWEC lead to 3-0 after one and half innings.
After the Raiders found a single run in the bottom of the third,
Megan Patterson found her second RBI of the game with a single to the outfield in the fourth inning to put Eau Claire back up by three runs. The bats continued to stay hot in the fifth inning, as
Kenna Strunsee and
Paige Lathrop both singled and stole bases to put two runners in scoring position.
Molly Marquardt gave them an opportunity to jog home two batters later as Marquardt blasted her second home run of the day over the left field fence to extend the lead to 7-1. Marquardt's two homers on the day rank her first on the team and second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with three this season.
In the sixth inning, UWEC loaded up the bases with a walk and a pair of singles by Strunsee and Lathrop with
Claire Beck in the on-deck circle. On the very first pitch of the at bat,
Claire Beck smashed the ball over the left field fence to put Eau Claire up 12-1. Beck's first career grand slam sealed the ten-run rule in the sixth as UWEC earned the 12-2 victory.
The Blugolds (10-6, WIAC 0-0) will return home and gear up for their home opener at Bollinger Field on Sunday, April 7
th when they host the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) for another nonconference doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports.
