Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire Friday afternoon at Bollinger Field. The Blugolds, ranked 21st in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll, took the opener, 3-2 in eight innings before the Eagles came back to win the nightcap, 2-0.
UWL is now 16-12 overall and 4-2 in the WIAC while UW-Eau Claire is 18-5-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the conference.
UW-Eau Claire rallied for the win in Friday's opener. UWL took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of unearned runs.
Emily Knight scored on a Blugolds' error with the first run of the game.
Stephanie Cole followed with an RBI single to knock in
Mia Schmidtke to make it 2-0.
The Blugolds tied the game in the bottom of the sixth as Ellie Decker scored on Sarah Peka's fielder's choice and Haley Robinson came in on a UWL error to the game. UW-Eau Claire scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth on Peka's walk-off single scoring Bailee Sillman.
UWL finished with five hits in the opener as Cole went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Sydne Shattuck (3-6) suffered the loss for the Eagles, pitching 2.1 innings in relief, allowing three hits and one run while striking out two.
Caitlyn Hughes started, going 5.0 innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) and one walk with two strikeouts.
UW-Eau Claire totaled seven hits with Abbey Place going 2-for-4. Peka (9-2) earned the victory, pitching 8.0 innings, allowing five hits, two runs (unearned) and two walks while striking out two.
Maddie Muelken (3-3) earned the complete-game shutout in the nightcap for UWL. She went 7.0 innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out four.
UWL scored the game's only runs in the top of the first on
Kendra Leis' two-out tw-run double scoring Schmidtke and
Sabrina Scardamaglia. Leis finished 2-for-3 with two RBI as the Eagles totaled five hits.
Cheyenne Johnson (3-2) suffered the loss for UW-Eau Claire, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, two runs and two walks with four strikeouts.
UWL returns to action Saturday, April 20 hosting UW-Stout at noon.