Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team earned a doubleheader sweep at UW-Platteville Sunday afternoon. The Eagles, ranked 22nd on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), earned a 17-4 win (5 innings) in the opener and 10-0 (5 innings) in the nightcap. UWL improves to 18-8 overall and 2-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while UW-Platteville drops to 6-14 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
UWL finished with a season-high 19 hits and 17 runs in the opener as all nine starters recorded at least one hit. Eight starters in the line-up scored a run. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as
Brittany Baldwin scored on
Sydney Murphy's RBI groundout. The Pioneers tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Crystal Rote's run-scoring single to knock in Jessy Tanel.
UWL tallied eight runs in the second inning.
Jessie Carignan's single scored
Grace Mindrup to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
Stephanie Cole had a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-1 and Murphy's two-run single made it 5-1.
Ashley Lindstrom had a two-run double for a 7-1 advantage while Mindrup's RBI double gave UWL a 8-1 lead. Mindrup later scored on a UW-Platteville error for the final run of the inning.
The Pioneers scored twice in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 9-3, but the Eagles scored four times in the top of the third.
Brooke Baldwin scored on a wild pitch;
Jenny Gallagher came in on Cole's sacrifice fly, Murphy scored on Lindstrom's double and Mindrup's infield single knocked in Lindstrom. Cole hit a three-run home run and Mindrup added another infield RBI single in the top of the fourth to give UWL a 17-3 lead. UW-Platteville finished the scoring with a run in the bottom of the fourth.
Mindrup finished 4-for-4 for UWL while Lindstrom went 3-for-4 and Vander Schaaf finished 3-for-3. All three players finished with two runs while Mindrup and Lindstrom each had three RBI. Murphy finished 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI while Gallagher went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Brittany Baldwin and
Stephanie Cole each scored twice while Cole finished with a game-high five RBI.
Carignan (7-2) earned the complete-game victory, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and four walks with six strikeouts.
Rachel Bonnell (1-5) suffered the loss for UW-Platteville, going 2.0 innings, allowing seven hits, nine runs (eight earned) and two walks. The Pioneers finished with seven hits with Hailey Truman went 2-for-2 with a run scored.
In the nightcap,
Caitlyn Hughes (6-3) and
Katie Klein combined on a one-hit shutout. Hughes went 4.0 innings, allowing one hit with seven strikeouts. Klein pitched 1.0 inning, recording two strikeouts.
UWL took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on Murphy's RBI single and Lindstrom's run-scoring double. The Eagles added to their lead in the top of the third on Mindrup's double to score
Brooke Baldwin.
UWL tallied three runs in the fourth and five in the fifth. Gallagher had an RBI single and Murphy a two-run single in the fourth inning. Vander Schaaf and Cole recorded run-scoring singles in the fifth while Gallagher had a two-run double.
The Eagles totaled 14 hits in the nightcap as Murphy finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. Mindrup, Vander Schaaf and Gallagher each went 2-for-3. Vander Schaaf and Gallager each scored twice while Gallager had three RBI.
Butzen Jess (4-5) took the loss, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing 14 hits, 10 runs and one walk while striking out six. Emily Woodford had the Pioneers' only hit.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, April 5 at Luther College (Iowa) at 3 p.m.
