At stake for the Blugolds in their season-ending WIAC tournament was a repeat performance as conference champions and an automatic qualifying spot to this year’s eight-team NCAA Division III Tournament May 17 through 21 in Eau Claire.

After losing its opening game in Friday and Saturday’s double-elimination tournament hosted by UW-Superior, the UW-Eau Claire softball team had its work cut out for it.

The ‘Golds proved better than their No. 6 seed as they battled back through the losers’ bracket. They recorded three straight victories after their opening round loss, until getting knocked out of the tournament by top-seeded UW-La Crosse, 6-0. The Blugolds finished the tournament in third place, just one win away from the championship game.

“Our conference was really close this year,” sophomore Kim Czapla said. “It was kind of up in the air as to who was going to win.”

The ‘Golds have a 25-17-1 record while La Crosse is 27-17 after losing the title game to No. 7 UW-Stevens Point, 2-1.

The Blugolds had runners on base in six of the seven innings in their final game against La Crosse but failed to capitalize. The team recorded eight hits against the Eagles, including two each by sophomore Jannah Grinnell and senior Katie Dunn.

La Crosse opened the game by establishing an early 1-0 lead after the first inning. Another Eagle run in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth put the game out of reach for Eau Claire.

Czapla recorded the loss to La Crosse after starting all five games of the tournament to go 3-2 overall for the weekend.

Czapla combined duties with sophomore Jessie Sharpe to pitch a pair of shutouts in Saturday’s first two games. Czapla went four innings and Sharpe three in a five-hitter against Superior. Czapla went six to Sharpe’s one in a four-hitter against Point. The Blugolds won both games by the final score of 5-0.

“Jessie and I compliment each other,” Czapla said. “We have different styles and that helps when batters start hitting me. Jessie will come in and throw those batters out.”

Freshman Emilee Planert helped the Blugolds to a 2-0 lead over Superior with her third-inning, two-run triple.

Planert drove in another run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. Her triple was one of five Blugold hits in the contest.

In the win over Point, the ‘Golds scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first, then broke the game open with four in the fifth. Grinnell had a two-run single and junior Danyell Smith an RBI single in that inning.

Eau Claire bounced back after its first-round loss to second-seeded UW-River Falls, 2-1. Junior Tracy Steffens accounted for both Blugold runs in the win over River Falls, one of the WIAC West Division tri-champions.

Smith hit a solo home run in the second to get the first run on the board. River Falls came back to match Eau Claire’s run with one of its own in the top of the fourth. Steffens broke the tie when she singled, stole second and scored on Grinnell’s single.

“We did a fine job all weekend getting people on base,” Steffens said. “We were positive about it and kept hitting the ball all weekend.”

Steffens said you can be on a pitcher all game, but sometimes you just don’t get the breaks. She said the team kept lining or popping out against Whitewater and it came down to them not hitting the ball into the gaps.

The early loss to UW-Whitewater haunted the ‘Golds all weekend, making the team’s tournament exit just one loss away. Whitewater managed a 6-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning, but Eau Claire rallied to score five times in the top of the fifth to remain close. Those five runs deemed all the Blugolds could produce, losing 6-5.

The NCAA committee will decide the fate of the Blugold softball season. Eau Claire is hoping to receive an at-large bid from the committee to play in this year’s NCAA championships.

Besides the teams that automatically qualify for the tournament, there will be nine independent qualifiers for teams that don’t play in a conference. There will be four more at-large bids given to teams who play in a conference. Eau Claire is hoping to receive one of those four bids.

Head coach Deb Steward and her team will know today if the team will advance to nationals.