ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana (Blugolds.com)—The Blugold Softball team found success late in the day in the final doubleheader of their spring break trip. No. 21 Louisiana College (14-4) picked up the win 1-0 in game one but the UW-Eau Claire (8-10) rally earned them a 8-0 victory to close the day.
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Louisiana College shutout the Blugolds in game one and allowed only three hits, two of which came from Deanna Gilane (Sr.-South Milwaukee, WI). Gilane went 2-for-3 in the first game with hits that included a line drive through the left side in the 2nd inning and a blooper to right field in the 4th inning. However, it wouldn't be enough to get a score and heading into the bottom of the 6th the score remained 0-0. That changed when the Wildcat's leadoff hitter Emorie Nugent singled into right field. A sacrifice bunt would move the runner and on the next play, a single down the left line, she would score. Two quick outs from the UW-Eau Claire defense sent the Blugolds to batter's box but unable to rally, Louisiana College took it with the 1-0 score.
Zana Lorbetske (Jr.-Rhinelander, WI/Three Lakes) was the Blugold pitcher in game one. She struck out nine and walked one while giving up four hits.
UW-Eau Claire came back strong in game two, scoring at least one run in every inning. They opened up the first inning with a third pitch line drive double to left field from Amanda Fischer (Sr.-Wausau, WI/West). Just two pitches later, Fischer would steal 3rd base before scoring on a Gilane groundout. Three quick outs in the bottom of the inning gave the Blugolds the chance to put up more runs and that was just what they did. In the 2nd inning, Nikki Brooks (Sr.-Hammond, WI/St. Croix Central) had an RBI single through the left side and the 3rd inning saw two more runs score as Gilane would again score Fischer and Kenzie Winning's (So.-Waupun, WI) base hit bunt allowed Darby Raffel (Fr.-Middleton, WI) to cross home plate.
The 4th inning gave UWEC an extra spark when Fischer got ahold of an inside pitch and sent it high over the left field fence. The home run would score both Fischer and Brooks, extending the Blugold lead to 6-0. Finally, in the 5th inning, pinch hitter Morgan Lecheler (So.-Menomonie, WI) claimed two RBIs on a Wildcat error that scored Emily Pomykalski (So.-Cross Plains, WI/Middleton) and Rachel Heffel (So.-Racine, WI/Case). Two strikeouts and an infield play would close down Louisiana College and give UW-Eau Claire an 8-0 shutout.
Fischer went 3-for-3 and Brooks was 2-for-2 in the box in game two.
The big hits and steadfast UWEC defense gave Blugold pitcher Lauren Blasczyk (So.-Appleton, WI/East) peace of mind from the mound.
"She just threw really efficiently today," said Head Coach Leslie Huntington. "She went right at batters and when you think about having good pitching the more effective we can be in throwing less pitches means that the batters get less looks."
Less looks mean that batters are less likely to hit the ball hard. That proved to be true as Blasczyk stuck out three and gave up only one hit to the No. 21 ranked team in the nation. Even better was that in being efficient, she only threw 60 pitches in the win which was her first of the 2015 season.
"I knew if I could just do my job on the mound my team would have my back," added Blasczyk.
And have her back they did. Louisiana College only had two runners on base all game and neither one would get further than second base. UW-Eau Claire also boasted no errors in game two.
"Going into the 5th inning I just wanted to keep everyone off base and take away the chance for them to come back," said Blasczyk. "I knew that if I threw hard and hit my spots that it wouldn't happen. I was fortunate enough to throw pitches that they couldn't hit.
The UW-Eau Claire spring break series featured a grueling schedule consisting of two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams and five different American Southwest Conference teams. Over tens day, UW-Eau Claire complied a 7-7 record that included games against three top 25 ranked teams.
The Blugolds first post-break games will be April 2nd against Marian (Wis.). The Gelein Field home opener will begin at 3:00 and 5:00pm.
-MRW-
