Lyssa Beyer

The Blugolds softball team may have split the series with UW-Oshkosh Tuesday, but it made history in the process.

Freshman pitcher Jenny Ross pitched a perfect game, sending 21 straight batters back to the dugout, something that has never happened in the history of the program.

Ross had six strikeouts, four fly outs and 11 groundouts to completely shut down Oshkosh’s offense while the Blugolds scored three in the sixth to win game one.

“Actually, I didn’t realize I had a (perfect game) until the end,” Ross said. “I was just kind of focusing on making sure we kept up our lead and to get out of the game and into the second one.”

The Titans woke up in game two, tagging junior pitcher Bri Sturm for five runs in four innings. Ross finished the game for Sturm and gave up a two-run home run in the seventh. The Blugolds only managed one hit in the 7-0 loss.

“I was pretty disappointed in our letdown after game one. We didn’t have the same intensity; we didn’t have the same focus,” coach Leslie Huntington said. “We basically kind of played like we were satisfied with winning game one and that, to me, is unacceptable.”

It was a pitcher’s duel in game one as Ross’ opponent Ronessa Stampfli held the Blugolds scoreless until the sixth inning.

Sophomore Tamara Zeman started the scoring with a home run. Senior Jill Janke had a single and Senior Tessa Pecha pinch ran for Janke.

Senior Michelle Butkus hit her third home run of the season, giving Eau Claire a 3-0 win.

It was a different story in game two as Butkus was the only player to come away with a hit, a double in the fourth inning.

Sturm got the start in game two and gave up six hits.

“Bri threw pretty well. It’s just that she’s a different style pitcher,” Huntington said. “She throws a little more up than Jenny (Ross) does and when you get ahold of a ball that’s up in the zone, it goes a long ways.”

“They had seen her for three times through the line up and had seen her for a few innings and I felt it was time to give them a different look,” she said. “It wasn’t really anything Bri was doing wrong, it was just time for the hitters to see something a little different again.”

The split brings the Blugolds to 18-6 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC. The team has a busy weekend with its first game on Friday against Luther College (Iowa) in Decorah. The double header is rescheduled from March 30. The Blugolds will then head to UW-La Crosse on Saturday for a double header and then to UW-Platteville on Sunday for another double header.

“Our team is prepared physically for anything that happens on the field,” she said, “but they have to learn how to bring it between their ears.”

-Cassandra Golburg contributed to this report