By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
ROCHESTER, Minn. (blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team closed out their annual trip to the RCTC Dome on Sunday with a split versus Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. In the morning contest, Eau Claire topped No. 8-ranked St. Catherine, 4-3. The College of Saint Benedict then handed the Blugolds their first loss on the season, 9-5.
Sarah Peka (So-Chanhassen, MN/Minnetonka) picked up where she left off on Saturday, stifling the Wildcats in game one and earning her third win in as many games. She went all seven innings for the second straight time, striking out three St. Kate's hitters and allowing two earned runs on four hits.
The offense gave Peka some cushion, leading 4-0 through three-and-a-half innings. St. Catherine fell a run short as they got one back in the bottom of the fourth and two in the final frame.
Katie Rongstad (So.-Slinger, WI), Cheyenne Johnson (So.-Poplar, WI/Northwestern), and Mikayla McEnery (Fr.-Savage, MN/Prior Lake) all had multiple hits, coming from the 6-7-8 spots in the lineup. They each accounted for a run as well.
Against the Blazers, Peka received a break from the pitching duties, and CSB put the hurt on the Eau Claire pitching committee. Saint Benedict compiled eleven base-knocks in their win over the Blugolds, scoring a run in the first, second, and sixth innings, while putting up three-spots in the fifth and seventh. The runs in the fifth tied it at five before they completed the comeback in the final two innings.
Rongstad added two more hits to finish 4-for-7 on the day. Also, Brooke Varian (Jr.-Madison, WI/West) had two hits of the team's eight against the Blazers.
Next up for the Blugolds is a 14-game slate at the PFX Games in Clermont, Florida for their 2018 Spring Break trip. The trip begins on March 16 against Pomona-Pitzer and wraps up on March 23 against D'Youville.
Follow the action all season long on Blugold Game Day.
