MARSHALL, Texas (Blugolds.com)— The UW-Eau Claire softball team put a fight at East Texas Baptist University on Wednesday afternoon in a Military Appreciation Day doubleheader. The No. 2 ranked Tigers faced a Blugold team fresh off a sweep of UT-Dallas on Tuesday night who were ready to fight for another two wins. Unfortunately, UW-Eau Claire could not capitalize and fell to ETBU 3-2 (8 innings) and 1-0.
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
The Blugolds struck first in game one during the 5th inning. The run came on an RBI single up the middle from Leah Wolff (So.-Middleton, WI) with just one out. ETBU came back with one of their own in the bottom half of the same inning to tie the score at one all. The Tigers scored again in the next inning but in the top of the 7th, UW-Eau Claire put up one more run as Kelsey Meredith (So.-Golden Valley, MN/Armstrong) put a hard ground ball past ETBU's second baseman. With the game tied 2-2, the teams moved into extra innings. A Kenzie Winning (So.-Waupun, WI) double down the right line would put Eau Claire in scoring postition but two quick outs ended the inning with no Blugold runs. A base hit bunt got East Texas a runner on first base who then stole second on a failed pickoff attempt. The Tigers nine-hitter came up big and sent a ball through the right side, scoring the runner and ending the game with a 3-2 score.
"These were some of the best pitchers we've faced all year because they knew how to work the ball," said Wolff. "I was just looking for a pitch to drive. I had worked on timing it up and realized I needed to take advantage of any mistake because I knew they weren't making many."
UW-Eau Claire had six hits from four different players including a 2-for-4 performance from Winning. The Blugolds would also have no errors. Pitcher Zana Lorbetske (Jr.-Rhinelander, WI/Three Lakes) would strikeouts six with all three ETBU runs being earned.
In game two, ETBU would be the first to score, putting one run on the board in the bottom of the 1st inning. Leadoff hitter, Jayme Perez pushed a second ball to the center field fence for a double. Two hitters later, an error would score Perez and move the score to 1-0.
Defensively, UW-Eau Claire had clutch diving plays that prevented the Tigers from scoring big runs. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Winning, at shortstop, made a diving stop in the dirt and threw to first base to end the inning. Third baseman Amanda Fischer (Sr.-Wausau, WI/West) also had a diving play in the 2nd inning on a pop up bunt to snag the first out and slow the ETBU momentum. And in the bottom of the 5th, pitcher Laura Raflik (Sr. Plover, WI/Pacelli) dove for a hard ground ball and made the throw to first base for the final out of the inning.
The Blugolds had two hits in the second game to ETBU's four. Leading the way for Eau Claire hitters was Wolff who went 3-for-4 on the day. Fischer was also hit by three pitches to get on base and give the Blugolds the chance to score.
Senior captain Nikki Brooks (Sr.-Hammond, WI/St. Croix Central) spoke highly of the ETBU team and added that the Blugolds have come very far in the days leading up to today's games.
"We are really learning about our team as a result of these games," said Brooks. "It is positive seeing that a team coming from the Midwest with only seven practices outside can give the No. 2 team a run for their money. Kudos to their pitchers for keeping us on the ropes. We know what we need to do and today showed us where we need to go to reach our end goal."
UW-Eau Claire is now 5-9 on the season. They head to LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas Thursday. Game times are 4:00 and 6:00pm.
-MRW-