Chippewa Valley Times

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire softball team began its participation at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational with a split in its first two games on Saturday at Inspiration Field. Despite an early loss against the College of Wooster, the Blugolds recovered later in the day by claiming victory over Illinois Wesleyan.

In the initial game, the Blugolds faced an uphill battle against Wooster as they quickly found themselves trailing by four runs, a gap that increased to six by the end of the fourth inning. Wooster took advantage of five errors made by UW-Eau Claire. Kendall Lenz managed to score the first run for the Blugolds by stealing home in the fourth inning. The team then mounted a significant comeback effort in the sixth inning, marked by Haylie Schmidt and Kenna Strunsee each delivering two-RBI doubles, while Katie Jones contributed an RBI double. Despite this rally, the Blugolds fell short, losing 7-6 as Wooster maintained their lead and closed out the game in the seventh inning. Schmidt collected two hits in the game, while Lauren Trottier was the losing pitcher after conceding two earned runs over 2.1 innings. Emma Sather came in as relief, pitching 4.2 innings.

The Blugolds made a strong start against Illinois Wesleyan in their second game, establishing a sizable lead and fending off a later challenge from their opponents. Claire Beck's two-RBI single sparked a three-run rally in the third inning, and Megan Patterson extended the advantage with a three-run homer in the fifth, boosting the Blugolds to a 6-1 lead. Although Illinois Wesleyan narrowed the gap with a home run in the fifth inning and reduced the deficit further to 10-8 with additional hits in the sixth, they could not bridge the difference. Beck secured the win on the mound with five innings pitched and allowed three runs, while Sather earned the save by pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. In this game, Patterson contributed three hits and four RBIs, supported by three hits from Emmy Olson and two from Molly Marquardt.

The Blugolds will face the same two opponents again on Sunday, April 6, to conclude the invitational. They are set to play against Wooster at 12:15 p.m. followed by a game with Illinois Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m.

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