Northfield, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader at St. Olaf College (Minn.) Thursday afternoon at Mabel Shirley Field, earning a 8-3 victory in the opener and 6-5 in the nightcap.

The Eagles improve to 11-7 overall while the Oles drop to 7-9.

In the opener, UWL scored four runs in the top of the third. All four runs came with two outs. Amber Gonzalez walked with one out and advanced to second on a Lindsay Steien sacrifice bunt. Brooke Howard followed with an RBI double to score Gonzalez with the game's first run. It was the start of four straight two-out hits to score a run. Kasey Brouchoud's single scored Howard to make it 2-0. Marissa Pease delivered an RBI double to knock in Howard and Laci Heppell finished the scoring with a run-scoring single to score Pease.

The Oles came back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, also all coming with two outs. Ellie Brandt's solo home run made it 4-1. Regan Zak singled and came in on Hannah Yaeger's RBI double to cut the lead to 4-2. Eva Hokanson's single to knock in pinch-runner Belle Schmidt made it 4-3.

The Eagles extended their lead to 5-3 in the top of the fourth with Aliyah Langrehr scoring on Howard's fielder's choice.

In the fifth, Gonzalez grounded out to score Madalynn Frederixon to give UWL a 6-3 advantage and Steien's two-run single scored Josie Flom and Ava Quinlan to make it 8-3.

UWL finished with 10 hits as Steien, Brouchoud and Quinlan each recorded two. Steien and Howard had two RBI while Ava Jaehnke drew four walks.

Claire Springer earned the win, pitching 2.1 innings in relief, allowing one hit with one strikeout. Brynne Bieri started for the Eagles, going 2.2 innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out one. Carmen Follette pitched the final 2.0 innings, recording four strikeouts.
 

St. Olaf (Minn.) had six hits as Brandt finished with two. Madyn Singleton suffered the loss, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing 10 hits, eight runs and four walks with three strikeouts.

UWL tallied three runs in the top of the first in the nightcap. Steien doubled with one out and went to third when Howard reached on a fielder's choice. Howard stole second and Pease delivered a two-out single to score both runners. Flom followed with a single to knock in Pease for a 3-0 lead.

St. Olaf (Minn.) tied the game with a run in the bottom of the first and twice in the second. Zak walked and scored on Joy Jung's single to make it 3-1 in the first inning. In the second, three straight doubles from Abby Nevin, Sophia Grace Aquino and Rylan Nakamura tied the game, 3-3.

In the top of the third, UWL took a 5-3 lead as Langrehr walked to lead-off the inning and advanced to third on a Pease double. Flom's sacrifice fly scored Langrehr with the go-ahead run and Quinlan followed with an RBI single to knock in Pease for a 5-3 advantage.

The Oles tied the game in the bottom half of the third on Nakamura's two-run double scoring Nevin and Aquino.

The Eagles scored the eventual game-winning in the top of fifth on Flom's go-ahead home run. St. Olaf (Minn.) stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the fifth and one in the sixth. Nakamura was thrown out at home by Howard to end the fifth inning.

UWL totaled 10 hits as Pease went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Flom finished 2-for-3 with one run and three RBI.

Follette earned the victory, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Kaeley Niemiec started, going 1.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and two walks with two strikeouts. Brooklyn Bigalke went 1.0 inning, giving up one hit, two runs and three walks while striking out one.

Springer pitched 0.2 of an inning, allowing one hit and one walk.

St. Olaf (Minn.) also finished with 10 hits. Jung and Aquino each went 2-for-4 while Nakamura finished 2-for-3. Nevin scored two runs.

Roxanne Ring suffered the loss, throwing a complete-game. She went 7.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, six runs and two walks while striking out three.

UWL returns to action Sunday, March 29 at Ripon College (Wis.) for one game starting at 11 a.m.
  Read Full Article