COLUMBUS, Ga. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team split a pair of games on Friday at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Blugolds defeated Piedmont 11-2 (5 inn.) in their first game before falling to Alma 7-6 in their first two games at the tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blugolds rode three home runs to cruise past Piedmont in their first game of the tournament. That included two round-trippers from Norah Kutnink (So. – Winneconne, Wis.) and another from Molly Marquardt (So. – Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West).
- UW-Eau Claire clubbed 12 hits against the Lions and scored in every inning but the fourth. The Blugolds plated three runs in the first off a three-run homer by Marquardt and tacked on two more runs with a solo homer from Kutnink and an RBI double by Marquardt in the second.
- Kutnink added a three-run home run in the third inning. Paige Lathrop (Jr. – South Milwaukee, Wis.) added two RBI across the final three frames and Claire Beck (Sr. – Jefferson, Wis.) tacked on a run-scoring single of her own in the fifth.
- Marquardt finished Game 1 3 for 4 with 4 RBI.
- Jacie Schultz (Sr. – Lake Crystal, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) earned the win in the circle with four innings of work. She allowed no earned runs and struck out three.
- UW-Eau Claire fell in a 5-0 hole in its second game of the day before a late rally fell short. The Blugolds made it a one-run game at one point in the sixth before the Scots pulled away.
- Marquardt hit a two-run homer to turn a five-run deficit into a three-run hole in the fifth inning against Alma. Kenna Strunsee (Sr. – Waukesha, Wis./South) added an RBI double and Beck hit an RBI single in the sixth to make it 5-4 in favor of Alma.
- Alma scored two more runs in the sixth, and Marquardt's 2-RBI single in the seventh wasn't enough for a Blugold comeback.
- Marquardt went 3 for 3 with four RBI in Game 2.
UP NEXT
The Blugolds continue play at the NFCA Leadoff Classic with games against Chicago and Denison on Saturday, March 1. They play Chicago at 3 p.m. Eastern and Denison at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
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