Rochester, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team earned a pair of wins Sunday at the Rochester Community Technical College (RCTC) Dome, defeating Hamline University (Minn.) by the score of 6-3 and Bethel University (Minn.) by the score of 5-3.
 
UWL improves to 6-2 on the season.
 
In the win over Hamline (Minn.), UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Josie Flom scored an unearned run with Kaeley Niemiec was caught stealing second.
 
The Pipers tied the game in the bottom of the third with Mikenna Johnson scoring on an Eagles' error. 

 
The Eagles regained the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth and added two in the fifth for a 5-1 lead. In the fourth, Aliyah Langrehr doubled to start the inning and later scored when Carly Gross stole second. Gross later scored on Cristin Casey's sacrifice bunt to make it 3-1. Maddy Bornbach's RBI double and Gross' RBI groundout in the fifth made it 5-1.
 
Hamline (Minn.) cut it 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Johnson scored as Elena Martinez reached on an error.
 
Lindsay Steien's solo home run in the top of the sixth extended UWL's lead to 6-3.
 
The Pipers scored once in the bottom of the sixth as Natalynn Lundeen scored on Josephine Cariveau's single.
 
Brynne Bieri (2-0) earned the win for UWL, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four hits and one run (unearned) while striking out two.  UWL had 14 hits in the game with Steien and Gross each going 3-for-4. Flom finished 2-for-4 with two runs while Brooke Howard went 2-for-5.
 
Allison Boynton (1-1) took the loss for Hamline (Minn.), pitching 5.0 innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs (three earned) and two walks while striking out one. The Pipers finished with six hits. Cariveau and Abbey Herbert each went 2-for-3.
 
Bethel (Minn.) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Molly Closser's double scored Olivia Weinberg with the game's first run. Sidney Bartels came in on Ellie Baker's fielder's choice for a 2-0 lead and Autumn Earney's RBI single scored Closser to make it 3-0.
 
UWL scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, all coming with two outs. Gross singled with two outs and went to third on Howard's single. Kyra Lard followed with a three-run home to tie the game at 3-3 and Steien's back-to-back home run gave UWL a 4-3 lead.  

The Eagles extended their lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth after Casey stole home.
 

Carmen Follette (2-0) picked up the win for UWL, pitching a complete-game. She went 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, three runs and two walks while striking out five. The Eagles had six hits with Howard going 2-for-4.

Lard became UWL's career leader in RBI with 132, breaking Cara Salm's (2007-10) record of 131.

Mary Hajduk (0-1) suffered the loss for Bethel (Minn.), going 4.2 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and one walk with four strikeouts. The Royals had five hits. Earney went 2-for-4.
 
UWL returns to action Saturday, March 15 opening its spring break schedule in Clermont, Florida. The Eagles face Edgewood College (Wis.) at 12:30 p.m. (Central) and Simpson College (Iowa) at 3 p.m.