John Koenig

After getting to the conference championship game for the past two years and falling short, the UW-Eau Claire softball team found its third time to be the lucky charm winning the WIAC this past weekend at Menomonie. The Blugolds (34-4) capped off a four-game winning streak in the tournament by beating UW-Oshkosh 3-0 in the championship game on Saturday.

Junior Amber Haack said she knew that if the team played their best, they could come out on top.

“(We’ve) always had the target on our back. Everyone in conference wanted to beat us,” she said. “When we’re consistent, (our play) takes care of itself. There’s always pressure but never to the point I knew we wouldn’t succeed.”

The No. 6-ranked ‘Golds started off the tournament beating UW-River Falls in the first round 1-0. Although the team only scored one run, which came off a double by junior Mandy Tschernach that scored junior Mallory McKinney in the bottom of the first, McKinney would hold the Falcons to three hits over the course of the game and not allow a runner past first base. With the offense relatively quiet, the defense came through when the team needed it.

“Once we get a run on the board, our defense is strong enough to hold the other teams,” Haack said.

The following game, the Blugolds’ bats came alive as they defeated UW-Superior 16-1.

Senior captain Mandy Freidel said because of rainouts earlier in the season, it was the first time they had faced Superior, which she said was a nice change.

“It was really big. We came out with our game and we saw the ball so well,” she said. “We did what we do and hit the ball really well. Certain games we don’t see the ball as well as others.”

Haack said after an eight-run fourth inning, the team gained a lot of confidence.

“It was an explosive fourth inning,” she said. “It gave us confidence with our bats, which we needed after the first game.”

One of the highlights included the first hit of the season for freshman Betsy Kettinger when she hit a two-RBI single that scored Haack and junior Shannon Barone. Haack also added a two-run home run, breaking the team record for home runs in a season with the team’s 29th. The ‘Golds didn’t have to wait long to hit their 30th of the season as Barone homered the very next at-bat.

On Saturday, the Blugolds started their day by defeating UW-Platteville 2-1, which allowed them to advance to the championship game against UW-Oshkosh. Sophomore Casey Leisgang led off the bottom of the first with her fifth leadoff home run of the season, giving her 10 home runs overall and tying a team record for most homeruns in a season. She would later score on an error in the fifth inning to put the score at 2-0.

In the top of the seventh, the ‘Golds had a little scare when the Pioneers added a solo home run with one out. McKinney, who allowed three hits and struck out seven, would retire the next two batters to finish out
the game.

The championship game was set as the top-seeded Blugolds faced the No. 2-seed UW-Oshkosh. On both sides, the pitchers dominated the majority of the game until the top of the fifth inning, when sophomore Jill Janke hit a sacrifice fly to score junior Rachel Paulus. The score remained 1-0 until Leisgang continued her dominance at the plate, hitting a two-run homer – a team-record 11th home run of the season.

With the Titans threatening in the bottom of the seventh with two runners on and one out, McKinney came through yet again
to get the last two batters out, which enabled the Blugolds to win the WIAC title and clinch themselves a spot in the regional tournament.

Freidel said the team will now look ahead to regionals and made the goal pretty clear.

“We expect to win and to be No. 1,” she said. “We have so much dedication to this team, we’ve work so hard. We expect to not only go to nationals but win nationals. Any team in their right mind thinks that, but we
feel that.”