Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Bloomington, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team split a pair of games at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament Saturday at IWU Softball Field.  The Eagles fell 4-3 in eight innings to Hope College (Mich.) before earning a 2-1 victory over 13th-ranked Washington University (Mo.). UWL is now 15-8 on the season.

The Flying Dutch of Hope (Mich.) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first in their win over UWL Saturday.  Autumn Anderson opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.  After a strikeout, Jenny Maury walked. Sammi Adams followed with an RBI single to knock in Anderson and Maury scored on the play after a UWL error to make it 2-0.

UWL tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Sydney Schemenauer reached on a Hope (Mich.) error with one out and advanced to third on Brittany Baldwin's double.  Schemenauer then scored on the second error of the inning by the Flying Dutch to make it 2-1.  Baldwin then scored on Sydney Murphy's sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Hope (Mich.) took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Shay Pinhey scored on a Sam Waller groundout.  UWL tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth as Baldwin opened the frame with a double and moved to third on Emily Holldorf's bunt single.  Murphy then recorded her second sacrifice fly of the day to knock in Baldwin with the game-tying run.

With the International Tiebreaker rule applied after seven innings, UWL's Katrina O'Keefe pinch ran at second base to start the top of the eighth.  She advanced to third on Baldwin's sacrifice bunt. Holldorf flied out to left field for the second out and O'Keefe was called out for leaving third early for the final out of the inning.  Katrina Ellis started the bottom of the eighth at second base for Hope (Mich.) and advanced to third on Sierra Mutschler's groundout. She then scored on Maury's infield single for the winning run.

Jessie Carignan (5-3) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits, four runs (two earned) and one walk with three strikeouts.  The Eagles finished with five hits as Baldwin went 2-for-3 with two runs. Murphy had two RBI.

Kate Laverty picked up the win for Hope (Mich.), going 5.0 innings in relief, allowing four hits and one run with one strikeout.  The Flying Dutch totaled eight hits. Anderson went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Hayley Reitsma finished 2-for-3.

Washington (Mo.), ranked 13th on this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of third Saturday.  Maggie Clapp singled to start the frame and advanced to third on Halle Steinberg's double to left field.  After a strikeout and ground out, Kenzie James reached on a bunt single to load the bases.  Janet Taylor followed with an RBI single to score Clapp for the first run of the game.

UWL tied the game in the top of the fourth on a Murphy solo home run.  The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth as Baldwin tripled with two outs and scored on Holldorf's infield single.

The Bears left a pair of runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings.

Heather Grelle (2-1) earned the win for UWL, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits, one run and one walk while striking out three.  Katie Klein picked up her eighth save of the season, going 2.0 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts.  Klein's eight saves ties her own single-season school record set in 2015.

The Eagles totaled five hits versus Washington (Mo.) as five different players recorded one.

Annie Pitkin (15-4) took the loss for Washington (Mo.), pitching 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, two runs and two walks while striking out seven.  The Bears finished with nine hits as James went 3-for-4 and Clapp 2-for-2 with a run scored.

UWL returns to action Sunday, April 10 with two games at the IWU Tournament.  The Eagles face DePauw University (Ind.) at 11 a.m. and ninth-ranked and host Illinois Wesleyan at 1:15 p.m.