The Blugold softball team ended its WIAC West Division regular season on the road Tuesday at UW-La Crosse as the Eagles swept it, 3-1, 7-4, in a doubleheader.
The ‘Golds finished with a 3-5 record in the conference and a 20-12 overall mark.
The team out hit La Crosse in both games but wasn’t able to produce key runs. The Blugolds rapped a combined 16 hits in two games compared to 12 for the Eagles.
Sally Wenzel struck out seven Blugolds in the first game. Sophomore Kim Czapla gave up five hits as she pitched the complete game.
Czapla said La Crosse came out ready to play and Eau Claire came out a little slow.
“I had a rough first inning,” she said. “They got a couple hits and were able to score some early runs.”
La Crosse jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first inning and those three runs proved to be all the Eagles needed to claim the victory.
The Blugolds left the bases loaded in the third when they scored their only run, which was unearned.
“(La Crosse) was able to find the holes to start out with,” coach Deb Steward said. “We weren’t able to do the same.”
Steward credited Wenzel for her control from the mound.
“She was working away from our hitters,” Steward said.
“With all our talented hitters, pitchers are going to do that,” she said. “I thought we adjusted well, though, as the game progressed.”
As in the first game, La Crosse came out of the gates in the second game ready to score runs.
The Eagles recorded four hits, two walks and an error to score four runs in the first inning of the nightcap game.
The Eagles used two more hits in the second inning plus a Blugold error and a hit batter to increase their lead to 7-1 by the top of the second.
Sophomore Dinah Martin hit a near perfect 3-for-4 in game two. Senior Becky Bourne and sophomore Jannah Grinnell both went 2-for-4 in the second game and each scored a Blugold run.
Bourne provided a spark in the top of the fourth as her home run scored freshman Katie Gelhar.
The home run cut the La Crosse lead to three but that was as close as Eau Claire would get.
La Crosse and River Falls finished their regular season tied for first place in the WIAC West Division with 5-3 records.
Superior also could share a piece of first place if it sweeps UW-Stout on Thursday to improve its 3-3 mark to 5-3.
The Blugolds will participate in the UW-River Falls Tournament this weekend. The tournament will include UW-Stevens Point, River Falls and Stout.