DE PERE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team split a doubleheader at St. Norbert College on Thursday, falling to the Green Knights 3-2 in the first game before taking the second 14-4 in six innings.
The Blugolds saw an early lead slip away in the first game of the day, but they responded well to coast past the Green Knights in Game 2.
The Blugolds claimed an early lead in Game 1.
Molly Marquardt (Fr. – Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to put UW-Eau Claire on the board, and
Miranda Gernander (Fr. – Coleraine, Minn./Greenway) added an RBI single later in the frame to make it 2-0.
The Green Knights got a run back on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third, but it remained 2-1 in favor of the Blugolds until the bottom of the fifth. St. Norbert was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game, and hit a go-ahead single later in the frame to go ahead 3-2.
UW-Eau Claire got the tying run to second base in the top of the seventh, but never got any further.
Jocelyn Hancock (Sr. – Verona, Wis.) started in the circle and pitched 4.1 innings. She struck out one and allowed three runs on five hits.
Lauren Gamme (Sr. – Eagan, Minn.) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
The Blugolds erased an early deficit in Game 2 and went on to cruise to victory. After St. Norbert took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Blugolds got RBI singles from
Ashlyn Grimm (Fr. – Auburndale, Wis.) and
Paige Lathrop (So. – South Milwaukee, Wis.) in the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Green Knights tied the game with another run in the bottom of the second, but the Blugolds took over from there.
UW-Eau Claire took the lead for good on an RBI double by
Hailey Hagedorn (So. – Farmington, Minn.) in the third.
Megan Patterson (Jr. – Johnsburg, Ill.) later drove in Hagedorn to put the Blugolds up 4-2.
The Blugolds tacked on another run in the fourth before St. Norbert answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 5-4 game. UW-Eau Claire ended the contest early by plating nine runs in the top of the sixth though, highlighted by two-RBI hits from both Lathrop and
Kenna Strunsee (Jr. – Waukesha, Wis./South).
Lathrop and Strunsee both finished 3 for 4 in Game 2. Lathrop drove in four runs. Hagedorn and Grimm finished with two hits apiece.
Lauren Trottier (Fr. – Burlington, Wis./Elkhorn) picked up the win in the circle by pitching four innings of two-run ball. She struck out six.
UW-Eau Claire's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener is up next. The Blugolds host 20
th-ranked UW-Stevens Point in their home opener on Saturday, April 13 at Bollinger Field. The doubleheader is slated to begin at 1 p.m., and the Blugolds will be honoring their seniors with a Senior Day ceremony.
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