COLUMBUS, Ga. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team finished the NFCA Leadoff Classic with two more wins on Sunday morning. The Blugolds bested LaGrange College 11-4 and Spalding University 12-4 to wrap up the tournament with a 5-1 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blugolds (6-2) belted four home runs across the two victories. Claire Beck (Sr. - Jefferson, Wis.) hit two of those round-trippers — one in each game.
- UW-Eau Claire fell behind 3-0 against LaGrange, but scored four runs in the third inning and six more in the fifth to pull away. Back-to-back homers from Molly Marquardt (So. - Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) and Beck led off the bottom of the fifth, and Marquardt later added a two-RBI single later in the frame as the Blugolds batted around the order.
- Marquardt finished 2 for 3 with 3 RBI. Paige Lathrop (Jr. - South Milwaukee, Wis.) added two hits and an RBI of her own.
- Beck earned the win with six innings of work in the circle. She held LaGrange to three earned runs and struck out five.
- The Blugolds trailed early again against Spalding, falling into a 2-1 hole after an inning and a half. Kenna Strunsee (Sr. - Waukesha, Wis./South) launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the second though, and UW-Eau Claire never trailed again.
- Norah Kutnink (So. - Winneconne, Wis.) and Miranda Gernander (So. - Coleraine, Minn./Greenway) both hit two-RBI singles in the win. Beck added a two-run homer in the fifth.
- Strunsee finished 3 for 4 with 4 RBI and three runs scored in Game 2. Beck had three hits and four RBI. Lathrop, Mila Photopoulos (So. - Mundelein, Ill.), Emma Raikowski (Jr. - Stevens Point, Wis.), Gernander and Kutnink all had two hits apiece.
- Lauren Trottier (So. - Burlington, Wis./Elkhorn) got the win in the circle with four innings of work. She held Spalding to two runs and struck out three.
UP NEXT
The Blugolds have their home opener when they host St. Norbert College for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 8, at the Sonnentag Fieldhouse. The first game starts at 1 p.m.
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