Mankato, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team opened its 2025 season with a split at the Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) Kwik Trip Invitational Saturday afternoon at the MSU Dome.
The Eagles fell, 2-0, to Bethel University (Minn.) before coming back to earn a 10-2 win in five innings over The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.).
Bethel (Minn.) and UWL were scoreless for the first four innings in Saturday's opener. The Eagles left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first and second innings and stranded two more runners in the bottom of the third.
The Royals scored the game's only runs in the top of the fifth. Olivia Weinberg reached on an error to start the inning and replaced by pinch runner Faith Tverberg. Mikaela Girard's single advanced Tverberg to second. Both runners moved into scoring position on Mandalyn Franks' sacrifice bunt. Molly Closser followed with an RBI single to score Tverberg to make it 1-0 with an unearned run. After a strikeout, Autumn Earney delivered a two-out double to knock in Girard for a 2-0 lead.
Brynne Bierl (0-1) took the loss for UW-L, pitching 1.0 innings, allowing three hits and two runs (one earned) with one strikeout.
Madi Lee started for the Eagles, going 3.0 innings, allowing one hit while striking out four.
Carmen Follette went 2.2 innings, allowing three hits with four strikeouts.
UWL totaled three hits with
Brooke Howard going 2-for-2 with two walks while
Kyra Lard finished 1-for-4. The Eagles drew nine walks in the game.
Dominique Walicke (1-0) earned the win for Bethel (Minn.), pitching a complete-game, going 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and nine walks with eight strikeouts. The Royals finished with seven hits. Earney and Girard each had two hits.
UWL took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in its win over St. Scholastica (Minn.). Lard walked with two outs and scored on
Marissa Pease' single.
The Saints scored twice in the top of the second. Payton Lang scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 1-1 and Jaydn Lind drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-1.
The Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the inning as
Amber Gonzalez scored on
Lindsay Steien's two-out triple.
UWL scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and five in the bottom of the fifth.
Josie Flom singled to leadoff the fourth and later came in on
Kaeley Niemiec's single to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. Howard added an RBI on a fielder's choice and
Nicole Zoellner's RBI single extended the lead to 5-2.
Niemiec, Zoellner and Lard each had run-scoring singles in the fifth while two runs scored on a St. Scholastica (Minn.) error.
Claire Springer (1-0) earned the victory, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing one hit. Niemiec started, going 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, two runs and four walks while striking out three. Follette picked up the save, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts.
UWL finished with 15 hits in the game, including two each from Zoellner, Lard, Pease, Flom, Niemiec and Steien. Howard had three RBI while Niemiec finished with two RBI and two runs. Steien scored twice with one RBI.
Ashley Matejka (0-1) took the loss for St. Scholastica (Minn.), pitching 4.1 innings, allowing 14 hits, 10 runs (eight earned) with two walks and three strikeouts. The Saints had four hits.
UWL returns to action Saturday, February 22 with two games in Mankato, facing St. Olaf College (Minn.) at 3:30 p.m. and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) at 6 p.m.
