WINONA, Minn. (Blugolds.com)—In their final games of the regular season, the UWEC Softball Team looked to end on a high note and keep up a five game win streak. On Monday afternoon they improved that streak to seven and picked up a sweep of the Saint Mary's University Cardinals on the road.

The only runs in game one belonged to the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds when they chalked up two in the 3^rd inning. Nikki Brooks (Sr.-Hammond, WI/St. Croix Central) provided a spark to the offense when opened up the inning with a triple into right field. Two outs later, Taylor Pierce (Sr.-Ashwaubenon, WI) had a line drive single to score Brooks and give the Blugolds a 1-0 lead. Leah Wolff (So.-Middleton, WI) would score Pierce on the next play with a shot to the left center gap, good enough for a double and the RBI. The Cardinals would put only one runner into scoring position in game one and never threaten to take over a lead from the Blugolds

Zana Lorbetske (Jr.-Rhinelander, WI/Three Lakes)  got the win from the mound Monday. She struck out 12 batters and gave up just two hits.
 
Game two opened up with a six run 1^st inning for the Blugolds. Leadoff hitter, Amanda Fischer (Sr.-Wausau, WI/West) was walked followed by Pierce who was hit by a pitch. SMU would walk two more batters, giving the Blugolds an early 1-0 lead. Rachel Heffel (So.-Racine, WI/Case) would hit a single to score another and Kelsey Meredith (So.-Golden Valley, MN/Armstrong) took care of business with a three run homerun to put the Blugolds up 6-0.

The Blugolds would not score again until the 4^th inning where they added two more runs off two hits. The final run of the game would belong to the Cardinals in the bottom of the 5^th. They forced the game into the regulation seven innings but UW-Eau Claire remained victorious and took it 8-1.

UW-Eau Claire wraps up their regular season with a 26-14 record. After securing a conference title, which they will share with UW-Whitewater, they are the No. 1 seed heading into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament. The Blugolds will host the conference tournament at Gelein Field on May 1-3.

-MRW-