EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team swept a doubleheader against St. Catherine University 8-1 and 5-1 on Saturday at the Sonnentag Fieldhouse. The two wins pushed Blugolds Head Coach
Leslie Huntington to 600 victories in her coaching career.
Huntington, in her 24th season leading the Blugolds, became the second coach in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) history to reach 600 career wins. She is one of only 27 active coaches in Division III to have won 600 games. She is UW-Eau Claire's all-time leader in victories.
Huntington now sports a .644 winning percentage for her career. That ranks in the top 20 among active Division III coaches with 600 wins.
The Blugolds' longtime skipper is one of only three head coaches in UW-Eau Claire's history to win 600-plus games. She joins former volleyball coach Lisa Herb and former men's basketball coach Ken Anderson in that category.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blugolds (17-3), who received votes in the most recent NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, got a pair of sterling starts in the circle to sweep the Wildcats (7-11).
- Claire Beck (Sr. - Jefferson, Wis.) pitched six innings to earn the win in Game 1. She struck out six and and held St. Catherine to one run. She also went 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate.
- Beck's RBI single in the first gave the Blugolds the lead, and UW-Eau Claire tacked on two more runs in the second. The Wildcats got on the board with a run in the third, but never scored again.
- Brooklyn Swanepoel (Fr. - New Richmond, Wis.) hit an RBI triple in the fourth, and Kenna Strunsee (Sr. - Waukesha, Wis./South) later used a squeeze bunt to bring her in to score too.
- The Blugolds closed out Game 1 by adding three more runs in the sixth, highlighted by a solo homer from Megan Patterson (Sr. - Johnsburg, Ill.) and an RBI double by Strunsee.
- The Wildcats scored one run in the top of the first in Game 2, but Jacie Schultz (Sr. - Lake Crystal, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) shut them down from there. She pitched a complete game with three strikeouts.
- UW-Eau Claire rallied and took the lead in the bottom of the first, going ahead for good on an RBI single from Emmy Olson (Fr. - Onalaska, Wis.). The Blugolds added one more run in the second, and closed out the scoring with an RBI triple by Strunsee and an RBI single by Paige Lathrop (Jr. - South Milwaukee, Wis.) in the fourth.
- Strunsee had five hits on the day to pace the lineup.
UP NEXT
UW-Eau Claire hosts UW-Superior for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 2, at 3 p.m. The games are currently scheduled for the Sonnentag Fieldhouse.
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