It may have taken a while to get things going, but after all, you can’t rush a win.
After nine slow innings Sunday, the UW-Eau Claire women’s softball team knocked in seven runs in the 10th to take a 10-4 win over UW-Platteville. The Blugolds repeated the win later in the day, claiming a 12-8 victory in game two of the conference double-header.
“The first game was tight all the way through until the 10th, when we kind of erupted for seven runs.. Otherwise it was a 3-3 ballgame,” coach Leslie Huntington said over the phone on her way home from Platteville Sunday.
Platteville got on the board early in the first game, putting in a pair of runs in the first inning against freshman pitcher Jenny Ross, who pitched a perfect game earlier that week against UW-Oshkosh.
Eau Claire put in three runs during the third and fourth innings to take a narrow lead, but a Pioneer run in the fifth tied the game at 3-3. The teams stayed tied until the 10th inning, when the Blugolds’ offense put in seven runs to Platteville’s one, capping off the 10-4 win.
“We know, because we have a strong defense, that even if we don’t score a couple runs to begin with, we know that our defense will be there,” said junior pitcher Bri Sturm. “And by the end of the game we definitely jumped on all of our opportunities.”
Eau Claire’s pitchers struggled to find consistency on the mound during the first game, with four pitchers taking to the circle and none lasting more than four innings.
Sturm, the second pitcher in the Blugolds’ lineup Sunday, said she struggled to find the strike zone during the first game, but said she and the other pitchers were able to adjust by the end of the game. Junior Kristi Doucette and sophomore Jessica Flood rounded out the team’s lineup in the circle during the first game.
Sturm said the team’s ability to go to numerous pitchers was an advantage, allowing the team to give Platteville’s batters a variety of different looks throughout the match.
“Every pitcher comes in and brings something different to the game,” Sturm said, “so I think coach was just looking at letting the other team see everything that we’ve got.”
Eau Claire maintained its momentum early in game two, running out to an 8-0 lead in the first two innings. Platteville scored five runs in the third to cut into the lead, but Eau Claire held the Pioneers to just three more runs over the next four innings to hold onto the 12-8 win. This time, seven innings were all the Blugolds needed.
“I think that a lot of it in the second game was just momentum coming off game number one,” Huntington said, noting that both the team’s hitting and pitching in the second game benefited from the surge late in the first match.
Sunday’s victories boosted Eau Claire to 20-6 on the season and 5-1 in conference play. Eau Claire continues its WIAC schedule today at UW-La Crosse, and won’t play its next home game until Saturday, when the Blugolds host UW-Stevens Point in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Gelein Field.
