By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
WHITEWATER, Wis. (blugolds.com) - On day two of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's), the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team's season came to an end. The Blugolds were ousted by UW-Stout by a score of 4-3 to eliminate Eau Claire from the tournament.
The Blugolds jumped out to a 1-0 start in the bottom half of the first inning. Katie Rongstad (So.-Slinger, WI) came around to score on an error that allowed Brooke Varian (Jr.-Madison, WI/West) get on base. A two-run home run for the Blue Devils gave Stout the lead in the top of the second.
The lead was rather short-lived as Abbey Place (Fr.-Naperville, IL/Naperville Central) scored Rongstad with a double in the third. Gretchen Arneson (So.-Chippewa Falls, WI/Chi-Hi) gave the Blugolds the lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth. However, a bases-loaded single followed up by a hit batter in the sixth was enough for Stout to take the lead and hold on to it for the win.
Leaders for the Blugolds in the defeat were Rongstad, who went 1-for-3 at the dish with three runs scored, Place and Arneson, who went 1-for-3 and 1-for-4 respectively (each with an RBI), and Mikayla McEnery (Fr.-Savage, MN/Prior Lake) and Sarah Peka (So.-Chanhassen, MN/Minnetonka) who each added a hit as well.
Eau Claire finishes the 2018 season with an overall record of 21-18.
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