La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team extended its winning streak to four with a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) sweep over UW-River Falls Tuesday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Eagles earned a 3-1 win in the opener over the Falcons and completed the sweep with a 1-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
UWL improves to 20-14 and 5-3 in the WIAC while UW-River Falls drops to 17-15 and 2-6 in the conference.
 

UWL started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning in the opener after Brooke Howard led-off with a single and scored on Cristin Casey's triple to make it 1-0. Casey later scored on Maddy Bornbach's sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0. UW-River Falls had loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first, but UWL's Madi Lee retired the final three batters to end the inning.
 
The Eagles took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Amber Gonzalez doubled with one out and scored on a Falcons' throwing error when Carly Gross reached on a fielding error.
 
UW-River Falls cut it to 3-1 in the top of the third. Grace Gardner walked with one out and went to third on Caitlyn Kressel's double. Gardner then scored as Kelly Aultmann reached on a UWL fielding error to make it 3-1.
 
The Falcons stranded a pair of runners in the top of the sixth and were retired in order in the top of the seventh.
 
Madi Lee (4-4) earned the win for UWL, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing one hit, one unearned run and three walks with seven strikeouts. Claire Springer went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits while striking out one while Carmen Follette earned her sixth save of the season. Follette went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits with three strikeouts. UWL's pitcher finished the game with nine strikeouts.
 
The Eagles finished with nine hits in the opener with Casey, Abbey Bosch and Gross each going 2-for-3.
 
Alexa Dusterhoft (2-4) suffered the loss for UW-River Falls, going 2.0 innings while allowing three runs (two earned) and three hits with three strikeouts. Lindsey Duggan pitched 2.0 innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out three. Brooklyn VanGruensven went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits while recording three strikeouts.

 
The Falcons finished with three hits, with Caitlyn Kressel finishing 1-for-2 while Aultman and Abby Pitts each finished 1-for-3.
 
The nightcap was scoreless through four innings. UWL left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first.
 
The Eagles scored the game's only run in the bottom of the fifth. Howard tripled with one out. Casey then reached on a fielder's choice and stole second with Howard coming in on a Falcons' fielding error to make it 1-0.
 
UW-River Falls' Kayla Dolan reached on a UWL error to start the top of the seventh off Follette. Pitts was hit-by-pitch to advance Dolan to second. Both runners moved into scoring position on Addi DeMeyer's sacrifice bunt for the first out. Follette retired Hannah Effertz on a groundout for the second out and Dusterhof on a pop-up to end the game.
 
Brynne Bieri (6-2) earned the win, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing one hit with one strikeout. Kaeley Niemiec started the game, going 4.0 innings, allowing three hits while recording two strikeouts. Follette earned her seventh save, pitching 1.0 inning.
 
UWL finished with five hits, with Howard and Kyra Lard each going 2-for-3.
 
VanGruensven (7-7) suffered the loss for the Falcons, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and one run with one strikeout. Duggan started the game, going 4.0 innings, allowing three hits and two walks while recording two strikeouts.
 
UW-River Falls finished with four hits, with Addi DeMeyer finishing 1-for-2 while Gardner, Kressel, and Dusterhof each finished 1-for-3.
 
UWL returns to action at 19th-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday, April 26 with the first game of the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.