The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

    Softball splits doubleheaders

    The Blugold softball team played well on the field to claim two shutouts as it split a pair of doubleheaders on Sunday and Tuesday.

    The team lost its WIAC opener to UW-Superior at Gelein Field in Carson Park on Tuesday but came back to win the second game on the strength of sophomore Jessie Sharpe’s five-hit shutout.

    In the first game, Superior’s Theresa Williams hit the second pitch of the game out of the park as the Yellowjackets went on to record a 4-1 victory. The win ended Superior’s 21-game losing streak against the Blugolds.

    The ‘Golds then ended a string of nine scoreless innings with two runs in the fifth inning to support Sharpe’s performance from the mound, which included two walks and four strikeouts in the 2-0 Blugold victory.

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    “We had a mental lapse in the first game,” junior Megan Grinnell said. “We didn’t have the bats that we had wanted and we gave up some errors early on.”

    Amanda Johnson went the distance from the mound in both games for the Yellowjackets. The transfer student from Moorehead State University (Minn.) gave up four hits in the opener and seven in the nightcap. Johnson struck out four Blugold batters in each game.

    “She’s a great pitcher,” Grinnell said. “We weren’t getting as many people on base as we wanted to, but that’s a credit to (Superior) improving their pitching this year.”

    Sophomore Kim Czapla pitched a five-hit shutout on Sunday as the Blugolds split a non-conference doubleheader against the University of St. Thomas (Minn.).

    Sophomore Brenda Westermann drew a walk to lead off the top of the fifth inning, which produced the only score needed for the Blugolds. Freshman Emilee Planert pinch-ran for Westermann and moved to second on a sacrifice by sophomore Jane Taragos, allowing pinch hitter freshman Leah Schlegelmilch to come to bat.

    Eau Claire got the only run it needed in the game when Schlegelmilch singled home Planert in the fifth inning.

    Grinnell made the catch of the day in the sixth inning of the first game as she made a game-saving catch while knocking down the center field fence with two runners on and two out.

    “My teammates told me that it would have been a home run if I wouldn’t have caught it,” Grinnell said. “Our whole team improved our defense since our last game where we had some uncharacteristic errors.”

    Grinnell said, although dropping the latter of the two games, she was happy with the team’s performance.

    “I’d say that they were the two best games that we played so far,” she said. “We just tried to help out our pitchers as much as we could.”

    Sharpe started from the mound in the second game in which the Blugolds fell to the Tommies, 5-4.

    “I felt confident going into the game,” Sharpe said. “(St. Thomas) got off to a quick start in the first, but we were able to stage a comeback to get us back in the game.”

    The ‘Golds scored two runs in the top of the third and added one more in the top of the sixth to tie the game, sending it into extra innings.

    Sharpe allowed four hits in six innings before she was relieved by Czapla to start the bottom of the seventh.

    Czapla walked a batter, retired the second on a pop-up, but on a 3-2 pitch surrendered the game-winning home run to left center field.

    “Sharpe threw a good game for us,” coach Deb Steward said. “We had a break down on defense in the first inning, but late in the game, we just weren’t able to shut them down.”

    The Blugolds play on the road at 4 p.m. today at UW-Whitewater as they continue conference play.

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