La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team split its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opening series with UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Eagles took the opener, 6-3, before the Titans came back to win the nightcap, 12-2 in five innings. UWL is now 13-9 overall and 1-1 in the WIAC while UW-Oshkosh is 12-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

UWL took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first in the opener on two-out RBI singles from Kendra Leis and Katie Block. The Eagles made it 3-0 in the second on Sydney Murphy's two-out double. Sabrina Scardamaglia singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth and scored on Emily Knight's double for a 4-0 lead.  

UW-Oshkosh tallied three runs in the top of the fifth. Acacia Tupa doubled to start the inning and scored on a Claire Petrus single to cut the lead to 3-1. Amanda McIlhany followed with a two-run home run to make it 4-3 and force a UWL pitching change. Maddie Muelken came in of relief of starter Caitlyn Hughes and retired the next three batters in order to end the inning.

UWL added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth. Scardamaglia doubled with one out and scored on Mia Schmidtke's two-out two-run home run for a 6-3 lead.

UWL finished with 13 hits in the game, scoring five of its six runs with two outs. Schmidtke went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Scardamaglia went 3-for-3 with two runs. Murphy and Stephanie Cole each had two hits.

Hughes (8-1) earned the win, going 4.0 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and three walks while walking two. Muelken picked up her third save of the season, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing two hits. 

Petrus (4-5) took the loss for UW-Oshkosh, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs and one walk with two strikeouts. The Titans had eight hits with Tupa and McIlhany each going 2-for-4.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning in the nightcap as Leis scored on a Titans' fielding error. UW-Oshkosh tied the game in the top of the third on Petrus' single. UWL scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning for a 2-1 lead with Cole scoring on a throwing error. 

UW-Oshkosh took a 4-2 lead in the fourth on Tupa's three-run home run. The Titans scored eight runs on 10 hits in the fifth with Petrus hitting a three-run home run. 

UWL was held to four hits with Leis finishing 2-for-2. Sydne Shattuck (3-4) suffered the loss for the Eagles, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and one walk while striking out three. 

Bailey Smaney (8-3) earned the win, going 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) with two strikeouts. The Titans totaled 16 hits as Tupa went 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs. Petrus finished 2-for-4 with four RBI while Emma Fionda, Natalie Dudek and Jordan Manthei each had two hits.

UWL returns to action Sunday, April 7 hosting UW-River Falls at 2 p.m.