UW-La Crosse 2, North Central (Ill.) 1

Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team earned a 2-1 victory over North Central College (Ill.) Thursday afternoon in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Regional at Gelein Field at Carson Park.  The Eagles, now 28-14 on the season, advance to play Luther College (Iowa) Friday, May 13 at 4 p.m.

North Central (Ill.) falls to 26-13 on the season and will face the College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) in an elimination game Friday at 11 a.m.  Luther opened the regional with a 3-0 victory over St. Scholastica in Thursday's first game.
 
The Eagles, ranked 23rd on this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with the Cardinals. Jenna Ahnen opened the game with a single and after a UW-L strikeout, Kelsey Golackson reached on a North Central fielding error with Ahnen advancing to third on a second Cardinals' error on the play.
 
Katie Pietrowiak then hit an RBI single to score Ahnen to make it 1-0.

North Central tied the game in the top of the fifth. Vlasta Mangia opened the frame with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. She then advanced to third on a passed ball with one out and scored on Taylor Ryan's single.
 
UW-L won the game in the bottom of the seventh. Ahnen started the rally with a two-out single and moved to second on Rachel Weyer's infield single. Golackson then hit the first pitch up the middle for the game-winning single to score Ahnen. All three hits in the inning came on the first pitch.

"I was anticipating a change-up and I just wanted to make sure to give Jenna a chance to run," said Golackson. "Coach gave us the green light right away and we were ready to swing at the first pitch."

Lauren Beres (14-10) earned the win for UW-L, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing six hits, one unearned run and one walk while striking out three. 

"They had some different batting stances and we had to pitch more inside, but we felt confident going into the game," said Beres. "We have been playing and practicing well recently and I know I don't need to get a lot of strikeouts because we have a good defense behind us."

Pietrowiak finished 3-for-3 at the plate for the Eagles while Ahnen and Weyer were both 2-for-4 with Ahnen scoring both of UW-L's runs.

"I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit today," said Pietrowiak. "Winning this first game in the regional is something we haven't done the last couple of years and it feels much better than having to come back in the bracket."

"We worked on being very aggressive at the plate," said UW-L head coach Chris Helixon. "We like to attack on offense and she (Mangia) didn't mix up a lot of pitches at the end of the game.  We knew one play was going to be the difference in the game."
 
Mangia (12-6) suffered the loss for North Central, going 6.2 innings, allowing nine hits and two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts.

Ryan was 3-for-3 for the Cardinals with an RBI while Lauren Schramm finished 2-for-3.

The UW-Eau Claire Regional, which will take place May 12-15, follows a double-elimination format.

Eight regional winners advance to the 2011 NCAA Division III Softball Championship scheduled for May 20-24 in Salem, Virginia.

UW-L is making its fourth career appearance in the NCAA III Tournament, including the third straight.  The Eagles went 0-2 in the 2009 regional at Simpson College (Iowa) and 2-2 in 2010 at UW-Whitewater.  UW-L's first appearance in the national tournament was in 1986 when the team finished 2-2 at the UW-Whitewater Regional.