ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern softball team put together a pair of near flawless performances Tuesday to hand the University of Wisconsin-Superior its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) losses. The Eagles – who extend their win streak to nine games – won game one in walk-off fashion, 3-2, and then completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in game two at Reynolds Field.

UNW improves to 15-16 overall and 9-1 in loop play, while UW-Superior falls to 17-12 and 6-2 in league contests.

Game One
It took eight innings for a winner to be crowned, but the Forcier sisters provided the spark the Eagles needed in the home half of the eighth, as Mindy Forcier (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) used her wheels to come around and score on older sister Kaylee's smash to right-center.

The Yellowjackets put two runs on the board to open the first inning to take an early advantage. UNW chipped away at the 2-0 deficit in the third, when Colleen Feldheim (Northfield, Ill./Loyola Academy) drew a bases-loaded walk. The Eagles plated another run in the fourth to knot the score at 2-2, as Kaylee Forcier (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley Watkins) recorded a sacrifice fly.

With neither team able to muster any more offense, the contest went to extra innings before the Forcier sisters provided the late-inning magic.

Lauren Silbernick (Osakis, Minn./Osakis) hurled a gem, surrendering just five hits and two earned runs in eight innings in the circle.

Megan Threlkeld (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) paced the Eagles at the plate, finishing the series opener 3-for-4 at the plate.

Game Two
In a game that finished in under an hour, the Eagles used a three-run fifth to secure the sweep.

Ann Lokke (St. Francis, Minn./St. Francis)'s RBI single in the third put the Eagles on the board. UWS would respond with a run in the fourth to even the score, but UNW struck with three runs in the fifth and the Eagles locked up the 4-1 victory.

Lokke's run-scoring double and Jennifer Ankrom (New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton)'s two-run single provided the offense for UNW in the fifth. Lokke finished game two 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the offense.

Meghan Schroeder (Big Lake, Minn./Spectrum) picked up the win in the circle, not allowing an earned run in five innings of work. Silbernick entered in the sixth in relief of Schroeder and closed the door on the Yellowjackets, giving up just one hit in the final two frames.

The Eagles will be back on the diamond tomorrow, as they will welcome the University of Wisconsin-Stout for a non-conference doubleheader. Game one at Reynolds Field is slated to get underway at 4:30 p.m.