Tucson, Ariz. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team opened the Tucson Invitational with a pair of wins Sunday.  The Eagles, now 4-2 on the season, earned a 9-1 victory (five innings) over Eastern Connecticut State University followed by a 8-0 win over Augsburg College (Minn.).

Jessie Carignan (1-0) earned the victory over Eastern Connecticut State Sunday, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing one hit, one run (unearned) and one walk with five strikeouts.  Katie Klein pitched 1.0 inning striking out two.

Eastern Connecticut State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but UWL scored four times in the bottom of the inning.  Ashley Lindstrom tied the game with a solo home run to lead-off the inning.  Jenny Gallagher's two-run two-out triple scored Kathryn Vander Schaaf and Sarah Mueller to give the Eagles a 3-1 advantage.  Gallagher then scored on Brittany Baldwin's single.

The Eagles tallied four more times in the bottom of the fourth inning on Lindstrom's three-run double and Stephanie Cole's RBI single.  Ally Perdue's run-scoring single knocked in Klein in the bottom of the fifth inning as the game ended with the eight-run rule.

UWL finished with 11 hits as Gallagher was 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.  Lindstrom finished 2-for-3 with four RBI while Cole went 2-for-3.

Caitlyn Hughes (2-0) and Klein combined on a three-hit shutout in UWL's 8-0 victory over Augsburg (Minn.). Hughes went 5.0 innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out six while Klein pitched 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

UWL took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third on Lindstrom's three-run double and Cole's single.  The Eagles added two in the fifth on Kerrigan Koch's home run to score Gallagher.  UWL had single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings.  Dani Mestelle's RBI single in the sixth knocked in Cole while Sydney Murphy's fielder's choice scored Baldwin in the seventh.

The Eagles totaled 11 hits.  Baldwin, Koch and Cole each finished with two hits.  Baldwin and Koch scored twice while Lindstrom had three RBI.

UWL pitchers combined to allow four hits, three walks and no earned runs while striking out 16 in 12.0 innings in Sunday's games.  The Eagles held their opponents to a .095 (four-of-42) batting average.

UWL hit .412 (21-of-51) in the two games with 17 runs and eight extra-base hits.

UWL returns to action Monday, March 13 facing MacMurray College (Ill.) at 11 a.m. (Central) and Dickinson College (Pa.) at 1 p.m. (Central).