La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team split its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader to UW-Eau Claire Thursday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Blugolds took the opener, 8-4, before the Eagles won the nightcap, 4-2. UWL is now 15-15 overall and 1-3 in the WIAC while UW-Eau Claire is 13-9 overall and 2-2 in the league. 

Both teams scored a run in the first inning in the opener. UW-Eau Claire took a 1-0 lead as Kenna Strunsee led-off with a single and stole second. Claire Beck's one-out single knocked in Strunsee. UWL came back in the bottom of the inning to tie it. Brooke Howard walked and stole second and went to third on Kyra Lard's single. Jordyn McCormack followed with a sacrifice fly to score Howard to tie the game.

The Blugolds led 2-1 in the top of the third after the Eagles left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. Strunsee walked to start the third, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. She scored on Beck's one-out RBI ground out.  

UW-Eau Claire extended the lead to 8-1 with six runs in the fifth. The Blugolds had six straights hits. Beck's two-run single gave UW-Eau Claire a 4-1 lead and Molly Marquardt hit a grand slam in the inning. 

UWL cut it to 8-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Howard singled and Cristin Casey reached on an error. Lard's ground out moved both runners up a base. After a strikeout, Abbey Bosch's two-run single scored both runners. 

In the seventh, Lard walked with one out and McCormack single. Bosch delivered an RBI single to knock in Lard, but UWL left two runners on base to end the game.

UWL finished with eight hits as Bosch and Marissa Pease both went 2-for-4. Bosch finished with three RBI while Hwoard scored two runs. Eilse Weinzierl (5-5) took the loss, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing six hits, five runs and one walk with three strikeouts. Carmen Follette went 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out one. 

Jocelyn Hancock (3-4) earned the victory for UW-Eau Claire, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four hits, one run and three walks while striking out one. Lauren Strott picked up her third save, going 3.0 innings, allowing four hits, three runs (one earned) and two walks with six strikeouts. The Blugolds had 10 hits in the game with the top-three in the line-up each finishing with two. Strunsee went 2-for-3 with three runs while Beck and Paige Lathrop each finished 2-for-4. Beck and Marquardt had four RBI. 

The nightcap was scoreless until UW-Eau Claire scored twice in the top of the fifth. Ashlyn Grimm's two-out solo home run provided the first run of the game. Strunsee followed with a double and came in on Lathrop's single to left field. 

UWL got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth on three hits. McCormack singled and advanced to second on Bosch's sacrifice bunt. A Pease single moved McCormack to third. After a strikeout, Maddy Bornbach singled through the left side to score McCormack to cut the lead to 2-1. 

The Eagles rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Howard led-off with a triple to right field and scored on Casey's infield single to tie the game, 2-2. After a UW-Eau Claire pitching change, Casey stole second. Lard grounded out for the first out, but McCormack delivered a walk-off two-run home run. 

Remington Stark (7-2) earned the complete-game victory in the nightcap. She pitched 7.0 innings, allowing six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out three. UWL had nine hits with Howard going 3-for-4 with one run. McCormack finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Pease went 2-for-3. 

UW-Eau Claire totaled six hits with Lathrip going 2-for-3. Jacie Schultz (4-2) suffered the loss for the Blugolds, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs and one walk while striking out five. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, April 20 versus 22nd-ranked UW-Stevens Point. The WIAC doubleheader starts at 2 p.m. at Wisconsin Rapids Sports Complex.