Box Score St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team fell, 4-0, at third-ranked University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Friday in the first game of its best-of-three series in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Super Regional. The teams will play its second game on Friday afternoon at the South Athletics Field.

UWL, playing in its school record 48th game, drops to 29-19. St. Thomas (Minn.) improves to 42-5 on the season. The winner advances to the NCAA Division III Championships May 23-28 at Suddenlink Field in Tyler, Texas in a double-elimination tournament.  The final two teams will compete in a best-of-three series to determine the national champion.   

St. Thomas (Minn.) scored three runs in the bottom of the first Friday, including a pair of unearned runs. Melissa Barry reached on a fielding error to start the bottom of the first and stole second on a strikeout. Elise Barnes followed with an RBI double to score the first run of the series. Barnes advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Chase Shortly's single. Sam Birling later doubled with two outs to drive in Barnes to make it 3-0. 

Jaylen Heller scored on Shortly's ground out in the bottom of the fifth for a 4-0 lead. 

UWL loaded the bases in the top of the seventh on a single from pinch-hitter Haley Radewan with two outs, but Emily Knight struck out to end the game. Sydney Murphy also singled in the inning.

Maddie Muelken (9-7) took the loss for UWL, pitching 0.2 of an inning, allowing three hits and three runs (one earned) with one strikeout. Caitlyn Hughes went 5.1 innings, allowing four hits, one run and one walk. Hughes, pitching in her 97th career game, became the fourth pitcher in school history to record 400.0 career innings on Friday. She now has 402.1 innings. Her 97 appearances are second in school history after Katie Klein (2015-18) with 114.

Six different players had a hit for the Eagles. Kendra Leis had a double for UWL.

Kierstin Anderson-Glass (25-3) earned the shutout victory for St. Thomas (Minn.), going 7.0 innings, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out three. The Tommies finished with seven hits. 

UWL is playing in its first NCAA Division III Super Regional after capturing the NCAA Pella, Iowa Regional on May 12 with a pair of wins over Lake Forest College (Ill.).  

St. Thomas (Minn.), ranked third on last week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), went 3-0 in winning its own regional May 9-11. The Tommies earned a pair of victories (1-0, 6-1) over UW-Eau Claire to win the regional championship. St. Thomas (Minn.) is making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Super Regional and fifth in six seasons. The team reached the national finals in 2014 and 2016.