La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team dropped game one of a doubleheader with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 5-2, but won the nightcap, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at North Campus Field.
The doubleheader split moves the Eagles to 20-16 overall and 8-6 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play while UW-Platteville is 18-18 on the year and 8-6 in WIAC action.
In game one, UWL got on the board first as
Kendra Leis drove in a run as she reached on an error in the first inning. UWP answered with a run of their own in bottom half of the first and then scored four runs in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. UWL would load the bases in the seventh inning but were limited to just one run.
Caitlyn Hughes (12-4) suffered the loss on the mound for the Eagles as she allowed five runs on seven hits, one walk while striking out three. Ashton Hoeppner (8-9) earned the complete game win for the Pioneers as she gave up two runs on nine hits and struck out two.
Sydne Shattuck finished 3-for-4 while
Mia Schmidtke was 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Eagles' offense. Rachel Plautz led UWP going 2-for-3 with a run and two runs batted it.
The nightcap saw the Eagles fall behind 4-0 after four innings before scoring three runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth. Schmidtke sparked the offense for the Eagles as she a hit three-run homerun for her eighth homerun of the season. Shattuck led off the sixth with a single and advanced to second on a pass ball. She then moved up to third on a single by Leis.
Stephanie Cole then drove Shattuck in with a single to tie the game at 4. One out later,
Nicole Trussoni recorded a single to score
Emily Lyman who was pinch running for Leis.
Maddie Muelken (4-5) came on in relief for the Eagles and earned the win. Muelken gave up just one hit while striking out two in 2.2 innings of work. Hughes picked up her first save of the season as she retired the side in order in the seventh with three straight fly outs. Abby Burns (7-7) suffered the loss for the Pioneers as she allowed five runs on five hits and two walks.
Cole finished 2-for-3 with an RBI while Trussoni was 1-2 with a run and an RBI. Schmidtke's homerun is her 16
th of her UWL career and puts her tied for third (Kay Kueppers (1999-2002) on the all-time homerun list.
Cara Salm holds the school record with 20 (2007-10) while Liz Bradley (2005-08) and
Emilie Wiltzius (2013-16) are tied for second with 17.
Today's games are the final games of the regular season for the Eagles as they earn the number four seed in the WIAC Tournament and will face number five seed UW-Oshkosh Friday, May 3 at 10 a.m. UW-Whitewater earned the number one seed by winning the regular season championship and will host the double elimination tournament at Van Steenderen Softball Complex in Whitewater.