Day Two Wrapup
NO. 1 SEED AND HOST TEAM STAY UNDEFEATED IN REGIONALS
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Both the No. 1 seed, the University of St. Thomas, and the No. 6 seed, UW-Eau Claire, remained undefeated on the second day of the 2008 NCAA Division III Softball Regional Championship in Eau Claire.
In the third game today against Simpson College, St. Thomas found itself down after one inning of play but took the lead for good after a two-run homer by Morgan Betker in the third. The Tommies ended up winning the game 4-1 following runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
St. Thomas will face host UW-Eau Claire at 2 p.m. Saturday. Eau Claire advanced to face the top seed after homers lifted the Blugolds’ to a 2-0 victory over Oshkosh. Jenny Ross, who also won the game for the Blugolds in the circle, hit the eventual game-winning shot over the fence. Casey Leisgang also homered for Eau Claire.
The No. 2 seeded Oshkosh will look to fight its way back to the championship game but must get past Illinois Wesleyan first. The teams will face each other at noon on Saturday. Illinois Wesleyan eliminated Ripon College with a 3-0 victory Friday. Ripon committed three errors during the game and Illinois Wesleyan was able to take advantage of the mistakes.
Simpson College will face Aurora University in Saturday’s opening contest at 10 a.m. Aurora advanced in the regional after eliminating North Central College in the second game on Friday. Aurora needed only five innings to take down North Central with an 8-0 victory.
Saturday’s first two games will be elimination contests. The winners will advance to face each other in another elimination game at 4 p.m. The winner of the Eau Claire-St. Thomas game will not have to play again until 2 p.m. on Sunday, while the loser will have to play at noon on Sunday to try and stay alive.
