EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (
www.blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team wrapped up their stretch of six home games on Tuesday with a pair of games against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opponents, UW-Stout. With both WIAC teams in a heated race in the conference standings, UW-Eau Claire earned a split on the evening doubleheader with an 8-3 win in game one and tightly contested 4-3 defeat in game two.
UW-Eau Claire found themselves in an early hole during game one as the Stout Blue Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Emma Raikowski (So. – Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) and the Blugolds answered promptly in the bottom of the second as Raikowski singled to right field, allowing
Breann Blanchard (Fr. – Rockford, Minn.) to score from second and tie the game at 1-1. After a walk to
Hailey Hagedorn (So. – Farmington, Minn.),
Siri Springer (Fr. – Lino Lakes, Minn./Mounds Park Academy) hit
Emma Raikowski across home on a Stout fielding error for UWEC's first lead of the game. Before the end of the inning,
Kenna Strunsee (Jr. – Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) hit a sacrifice fly out to center field and Hagedorn tagged up from third to give Eau Claire a 3-1 lead.
The Blue Devils evened the tides in the third and fourth innings with a single run in each to send the two squads into the fifth inning tied at 3-3. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth,
Hailey Hagedorn reached first on a throwing error by Stout to advance
Molly Marquardt (Fr. – Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln Way West) to home plate and give UWEC back their lead, 4-3. The following half inning, the Blugolds earned a five-run cushion with RBI singles from
Claire Beck (Jr. – Jefferson, Wis.) and
Emma Raikowski, and a two RBI double from
Megan Patterson (Jr. – Johnsburg, Ill.) to seal the 8-3 game one win.
Game two began with early runs by both teams as Stout recorded an RBI single and
Paige Lathrop (So. – South Milwaukee, Wis.) successfully converted on a squeeze bunt to bring
Kenna Strunsee in to score and tie the game at 1-1. After a scorless second inning, the Blue Devils and Blugolds both found their offense again in the third. With the visitors grabbing a single run in the top of the third, a sacrifice fly by
Molly Marquardt and an RBI single by
Emma Raikowski gave Eau Claire their first lead in game two, 3-2.
The following half inning saw Stout even the score on an RBI single to right centerfield. The top of the fourth inning would see Eau Claire with their final deficit of the evening on a single to right field that would ultimately seal the 4-3 UWEC defeat. The Blugolds found themselves with the game winning run on first in the bottom of the seventh, but a Stout double play halted the Eau Claire comeback.
The Blugolds (14-14, WIAC 3-5) will gear up for another WIAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 20 when they travel to UW-Platteville. Game one is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
