Game Four - #4 Eau Claire vs. #5 Whitewater
BLUGOLDS BATTER WHITEWATER
EAU CLAIRE – The UW-Eau Claire softball team continued its offensive assault on UW-Whitewater with a 9-2 triumph in the quarterfinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference double elimination fastpitch tournament at Gelein Field in Carson Park Friday afternoon.
The fourth-seeded Blugolds had previously defeated the fifth-seeded Warhawks, 10-3 and 11-4, rapping 26 hits in that doubleheader sweep earlier this season. Eau Claire rapped 12 hits and received four free passes to constantly have Whitewater pitcher Jessie Harmeyer in trouble. The Blugolds stranded 11 on the bases.
With the win, the Blugolds catapaulted into the semifinals against top-seeded UW-Oshkosh, a 4-3 winner over UW-Platteville, in a game scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday. Whitewater will attempt to avoid elimination with a game against Platteville immediately following its loss.
Eau Claire scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-0 lead. After Whitewater got two back in the fifth, the Blugolds turned three hits and two errors into four runs in the sixth.
Mallory McKinney allowed only one Whitewater hit over the first four innings before she was replaced by Bri Sturm. When Sturm struggled in the fifth, allowing a hit and two walks, McKinney returned to the mound and finished the game to pick up the win. She allowed two hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Eau Claire -Whitewater Box Score
