La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team opened its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) season with a doubleheader sweep of UW-River Falls Thursday afternoon at North Campus Field. It was also the Eagles' home opener, their first games at North Campus Field since April 28, 2019. UWL took the opener, 7-3, and the nightcap, 8-4. 

With the sweep, UWL improves to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the WIAC. UW-River Falls drops to 4-6 overall and 0-2 in the conference.  

In the opener, Maddie Muelken (2-2) earned the victory, going 6.0 innings, allowing two hits, three runs (one earned) and one walk while striking out three.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Sabrina Scardamaglia singled to start the inning and advanced to third on Katie Block's sacrifice bunt and Falcons' fielding error. Kendra Leis' sacrifice fly scored Scardamaglia with the first run of the game. 

UWL added to its lead in the bottom of the second on Scardamaglia's two-out single scoring pinch-runner Emily Lyman.   

UW-River Falls took a 3-2 lead with its three runs in the top of the third. Megan Halvorson hit a solo home run to cut the lead to 2-1. Sammie Harms was hit-by-pitch and Johanna Breyen singled. Both runners advanced on Rebeeca Daley's sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, both runners scored on a UWL fielding error to give UW-River Falls a one-run lead.

UWL regained the lead with five runs in the fourth, hitting for the cycle in the inning. Nine runners came to the plate in the inning. Allison Oster's solo home run tied the game at 3-3. Anna Jensen followed with a single and scored on Emily Knight's two-run home run to make it 5-3. Scardamaglia collected her third hit of the game with a double and scored on Block's RBI triple. Leis delivered a sacrifice fly to score Block for the final run of the game.  

UWL totaled 11 hits. Scardamaglia went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Oster and Knight each finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Oster had one RBI and Knight two. Leis had two RBI. 

Julianna Reynolds (2-3) suffered the loss, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing nine hits and six runs (five earned) while striking out two. UW-River Falls finished with four hits as Breyen went 2-for-4. 

In the nightcap, UWL took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Knight singled with one out and replaced by pinch-runner Kenzie Goethel. After Block reached on a fielder's choice and Goethel moved to third, Leis doubled to right-center to score both runners for a 2-0 lead. Lauren Kidd pinch-ran for Leis and scored on Sydne Shattuck's RBI single to make it 3-0.

Both teams scored a run in the fourth. Hannah Richards scored on an unearned run for UW-River Falls, coming in after Chapin Rappaport reached on a UWL error. Knight's RBI double in the bottom of the inning scored Megan Scheidt to give UWL a 4-1 lead. 
 
The Falcons tied the game with three runs on six hits in the top of the fifth. Keegan Piton's two-run single cut the lead to 4-3 and Rappaport's RBI single tied the game at 4-4. UWL quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Block singled and went to second on the play and then scored on a Leis' single for a 5-4 lead. The Eagles added three runs in the sixth on Leis single and Shattuck two-run double. 

Muelken (3-2) also picked up the victory in the nightcap, pitching 2.2 inning,s allowing three hits with four strikeouts. UWL totaled 12 hits as Leis finished 3-for-4 with one run and four RBI and Knight went 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Shattuck finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and Oster went 2-for-3. 

Connie Roe (0-1) suffered the loss for UW-River Falls, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing five hits, four runs and one walk with one strikeout. The Falcons had 11 hits as Breyen finished 3-for-4 with a run. Karina Monson and Rappaport each went 2-for-4 with Rappaport finishing with two RBI. Piton also had two RBI.

UWL returns to action Saturday, April 10 hosting UW-Stout at 1 p.m. at North Campus Field.