By Justin Dade – Sports Information
DE PERE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team finished up their final regular season tilt in a makeup contest with the University of St. Norbert taking both games 9-1 and 14-5 in De Pere on Monday.
Game one box score | Game two box score
The bats stayed hot for the Blugolds on Monday totaling 33 hits between the two games led by Evie Schaller (Jr. – Chippewa Falls, WI) and Leah Wolff (Jr. – Middleton, WI) who contributed 11 hits and 6 RBI's together between the two contests.
UW-Eau Claire wasted little time in game one getting on the board as Sam Noetzelman (Jr. – Delano, MN) reached on a fielder's choice allowing Rachel Heffel (Jr. – Racine, WI) to score on an error.
Schaller would drive Noetzelman home on a sacrifice fly later in the inning to give the Blugolds the early 2-0 lead.
Heffel would add an RBI double in the second inning to score Kelsey Meredith (Jr. – Golden Valley, MN).
After a Schaller RBI double in the fourth inning, the Blugolds would tack on five more runs in the fifth and sixth to earn the 9-1 victory in six innings.
Heffel, Meredith, and Emma Lehman (Fr. – Brooklyn Park, MN) all drove in runs in the final two frames for the Blugolds.
Lauren Blasczyk (Jr. – Appleton, WI) improved her record to 12-4 on the season with the win pitching all six innings allowing one run on five hits.
Wolff got things started for the Blugolds in game two with an RBI single that scored Abby Hansen (Sr. -Kaukauna, WI) in the first inning.
St. Norbert would tie the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on a single from Emily Laufer.
The game would go back and forth highlighted by a two run fifth inning for the Blugolds courtesy of a 2-RBI single from Carlie Christensen (So. – Ellsworth, WI).
Extra softball was needed in game two as the Blugolds and the Green Knights were tied 5-5 at the end of seven.
The Blugold offense exploded in the top of the eighth inning as the broke through for nine runs in the frame to ultimately take the game 14-5.
After a Wolff single scored two, Morgan Lecheler (Jr. – Menominee, WI) connected on a deep three-run home run to extend the lead.
Emily Pomykalski (Jr. – Cross Plains, WI), Schaller, and Wolff added RBI's of their own to round out the impressive eight-hit, nine-run inning.
Zana Lorbetske (Sr. – Rhinelander, WI) got the start in game two and pitched the first inning before Jordan Cockroft (So. - Ithaca, WI) came in for relief and pitched four and two thirds innings giving up four runs on five hits.
Blasczyk came in during the fifth inning and closed out the game giving up just two hits to earn her 13th win of the season.
With these victories, the Blugolds are now 13-1 in their last 14 games.
With the regular season now behind them, the Blugolds (24-11-1) are set to host the WIAC conference tournament for the second season in a row with hopes to take home the title. The tournament will be from May 6-8 at Carson Park in Eau Claire. Visit the WIAC Championship Website for the complete schedule.
