EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team hosted their final regular season home game of the season at Bollinger Field on Tuesday. With Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament implications on the line for UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater, the Blugolds fell to UWW in both games of the doubleheader, 6-2 and 6-5.
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Game one began with an early UWEC lead as Ellie Decker (Sr. – Germantown, WI) got on base with an RBI squeeze bunt single in front of home plate to bring in Kenna Strunsee (Fr. – Waukesha, WI/South) in from third for the 1-0 lead. The Whitewater Warhawks evened the score in the top of the second, but Eau Claire took back their one run lead in the next half inning. Megan Maruna (Jr. – Oswego, IL) hit her lone RBI single of the day into left field to score Alli Schoenrock (Fr. – Blaine, MN) for the 2-1 lead.
With only four hits in the following five innings for the Blugolds, UWEC was kept off the board as the Warhawks erupted for five runs in the fifth inning for the 6-2 victory. Madi Zerr (Jr. – Bristol, WI/Wilmot Union) pitched four innings in game one with two strikeouts and allowing one run on two hits. Megan Maruna and Sadie Erickson held their own on the bases as they totaled two stolen bases each.
Game two held a much different storyline as it was UW-Whitewater taking the first lead of the contest in the fifth inning. With just two hits in the first five innings of play, the Blugolds were kept off the scoreboard until the sixth inning where they mounted their comeback.
Sadie Erickson and Ellie Decker started the run in the sixth with back-to-back singles to the outfield, each player entered scoring position on the throw of Decker's hit. Madi tallied the first UWEC run with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Erickson from third base. Megan Patterson (Fr. – Johnsburg, IL) brought Ellie Decker across home plate with her first RBI single of the day as the fourth batter of the inning. After a pitching change for the visitors, Haley Lamberson (Jr. – Silver Lake, MN/Wilmot Union) singled up the middle and moved Patterson to second. Maria Back (Sr. – Rosemount, MN) pinch hit during the next at bat and hit a bases clearing double to left center to bring the deficit to just four runs. Just three batters later, Kenna Strunsee tied the ball game at 5-5 with a single through the left side.
The Warhawks answered with an RBI single after a lead off triple to seal the final score at 6-5 after retiring all three Eau Claire batters in the final inning.
The Blugolds (23-9, WIAC 9-5) will slot into the third seed for the WIAC Tournament that is set to begin on Friday, May 6th. UW-Eau Claire will face UW-Oshkosh in round one on Friday with a 12pm scheduled start time in La Crosse, WI.
Follow the Blugolds all season long on Blugold Game Day or on the UWEC Blugolds app.
