RIVER FALLS, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team picked up a pair of WIAC wins on Thursday, defeating UW-River Falls 6-4 and 10-0 (6 innings).
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Eau Claire busted out double-digit hits in both games, out-hitting River Falls 11-8 and 13-2 and saw Megan Maruna (Jr. – Oswego, IL) and Kenna Strunsee (Fr. – Waukesha, WI/South) collect two hits in each game to lead the charge.
In game one, Claire Beck (Fr. – Jefferson, WI) knocked in the first run of the day in the first inning with a single up the middle while a Haley Lamberson (Jr. – Silver Lake, WI/Wilmot Union) sacrifice fly to left would bring in another for a 2-0 lead after one.
Maruna would belt her fifth homer of the season in the second to extend the Blugold lead but the Falcons would respond with a homerun of their own in the third and took advantage of a wild pitch to bring the score to 3-2.
In the fourth, Sadie Erickson's (Jr. – Norwood Young America, MN/Central) single down the left field line would plate Maruna who had reached on her second hit of the game and in the fifth, Maria Back's (Sr. – Rosemount, MN) pinch hit single would drive in another run.
Eau Claire would tally their sixth run with a Beck single up the middle in the sixth inning, but the Falcons would hit a two-run homer in the bottom half to cut the lead to 6-4. In the seventh, the Falcons would strand a runner at second while the Blugolds held on for the win.
Maruna, Strunsee and Beck recorded two hits in the game with Beck tallying a team-high two RBIs.
Lauren Gamme (So. – Eagan, MN) picked up her third win of the season, striking out four in three innings while Jacie Schultz (Fr. – Lake Crystal, MN/Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) earned the save, her second of the year.
It was all Blugolds in the nightcap, with Eau Claire notching two runs in the first and third innings, one in the fifth and five in the sixth for the run-rule victory.
Maruna and Strunsee set the tone with back-to-back doubles to center to start the game and both would score on Ellie Decker's (Sr. – Germantown, WI) single up the middle.
In the third, Erickson doubled to plate Strunsee who had singled to center and Erickson would later score on Decker's groundout to second.
In the fifth, Beck would hit her first homerun in a Blugold uniform, extending the lead to 5-0.
Eau Claire would put the game away in the sixth, thanks to a two-run single by Erickson, another RBI single from Decker and Lamberson's two-run single to center to plate the final runs.
Schultz earned the win in the circle, striking out two in 4 innings while scattering just two hits en route to her seventh win of the season.
Six Blugolds earned two hits with Decker and Erickson leading the team with four and three RBIs, respectively.
The Blugolds (17-7, 3-3 WIAC) will continue conference play on Saturday as they host UW-Stevens Point (15-11, 0-4 WIAC) with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
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