Box Score Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team earned a 9-1 win in six innings over UW-Oshkosh Friday afternoon at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) at UW-Eau Claire's Gelein Field at Carson Park. The Eagles improve to 26-12 on the season with their seventh straight win and will face UW-Whitewater Saturday, May 7 at 10 a.m.
UW-Oshkosh falls to 25-12 on the season and will play UW-Stout in an elimination game Friday afternoon. UW-Oshkosh earned a doubleheader sweep of UWL during the regular season, winning 4-1 and 1-0, April 17 in Oshkosh.
Caitlyn Hughes (10-2) earned the complete-game win Friday, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing six hits and one run while striking out two.
UWL, the third-seed in the championship, took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth Friday.
Brittany Baldwin and
Megan Nelson singled with one out.
Emily Holldorf followed with an RBI double to score Baldwin for the first run of the game. Nelson later scored on passed ball to make it 2-0 and Holldorf stole home for a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles tallied three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. Holldorf walked with one out and advanced to second on
Ashley Lindstrom's single, who was replaced by pinch-runner
Jenna Jaquish. Holldorf went to third and Jaquish to second on a groundout, but
Sydney Murphy's single scored Holldorf to give UWL a 4-0 lead. Jaquish then scored on a
Sydney Schemenauer single and pinch-runner
Erin Maletzke later scored on a UW-Oshkosh error to make it 6-0.
UW-Oshkosh, the second seed, scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth as Haley Bayreuther scored on Erika Berry's groundout. UWL added three runs with two outs in the top of the sixth with Murphy drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Holldorf and Schemenauer's single knocking in Lindstrom and
Emilie Wiltzius.
UWL totaled 11 hits in the game with Nelson, Holldorf, Lindstrom and Schemenauer each finishing with two. Seven of nine starters had a hit for the Eagles. Holldorf scored three runs while Schemenauer had three RBI and Murphy two.
Sara Brunlieb (13-8) suffered the loss for UW-Oshkosh, going 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits, six runs (four earned) and two walks while striking out two. The Titans finished with six hits as Paige Giese and Brianna Witter each had two.
UWL faces fourth-seeded UW-Whitewater Saturday, May 7 at 10 a.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game. UW-Whitewater won a pair of games Friday, defeating fifth-seeded UW-Stout (3-2) and top-seeded UW-Eau Claire (5-1).
