Issued: March 27, 2003

SOFTBALL DROPS TWO AT COE CLASSIC

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The UW-Eau Claire softball team lost a 10-8, 10-inning game to St. Francis and fell 8-3 to defending champion Central College here today at the Coe College Classic held at the Hitters Sports Park Softball Complex.

The Blugolds fall to 3-5 overall and 1-3 at the Coe Classic with one day remaining of the event. St. Francis improves to 12-8 with a pair of victories and a loss on the day while Central won a pair of contests to improve to 15-3.

Eau Claire battled back from an early 3-0 deficit against St. Francis after allowing three runs in the top of the first inning. The Blugolds got an unearned run in the third inning but the Saints responded with three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Eau Claire got another unearned run in the sixth inning to pull within four before piling on four runs in the seventh inning to tie the game.

With one run in and two out, Mallory McKinney (Fr.-Brooklyn Park, MN/Champlin Park) stepped to the plate with two runners on and sent a ball over the fence for a three-run, game-tying homer.

The Saints responded with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth but the Blugolds again tied the game on their final out when Amber Haack (Fr.-Madison/La Follette) knocked a two-out RBI single.

Neither team managed a hit in the ninth inning and the Saints' Allie Pierce hit a two-run home run in the top of the 10th as part of a three-run inning. The Blugolds tallied a run in the bottom of the inning but were unable to make up the deficit and took a 10-8 loss to the Saints.

McKinney took the loss with two innings in relief, allowing three runs on just one hit. Only one of the three runs was earned. She finished four-for-five at the plate with three RBI and a run scored. The Blugolds lost despite pounding out 15 hits while the Saints totaled just eight hits for 10 runs.

Eau Claire again faced a large deficit against defending NCAA Division III champion Central but unlike the game against St. Francis, the Blugolds were unable to bounce back. The Dutch scored all eight of their runs before the Blugolds got on the board, with five runs coming in the top of the fifth inning.

Eau Claire put three runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth behind a three-run home run by Emilee Planert (Sr.-Eau Claire/North) but the Blugolds could not make up the eight-run deficit in falling to Central 8-3.

McKinney took the loss again, this time as a starter, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in four innings. Planert finished two-for-four at the plate with all three Blugold RBI.

Eau Claire will look to climb back to .500 with a pair of wins tomorrow in the final day of the Coe Classic. The Blugolds face Gustavus at 9:00 a.m. and Coe College at 11:00 a.m.

Eau Claire-St. Francis Box Score

Eau Claire-Central Box Score

Coe College Classic web site