St. Paul, Minn. –– The University of Northwestern Eagles (3-9) competed twice against UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (9-3) on Thursday afternoon. The Blugolds won game one 14-2 (5 innings) and game two 11-6. 

Game One:

Eau Claire jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first before adding two more in the second and seven unearned runs in the third. Northwestern got one of those back in the bottom half of the frame as the inning started with three straight singles by Telma Roesler (Hastings, Minn./Crown College), Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West), and Ellie Ronning (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Area). Ronning's single to left brought home Roesler, and Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI) loaded the bases with a one-out walk, but all three runners were left stranded.

The Blugolds added two more in the top of the fifth. The Eagles fought to keep the game going but were only able to add one run in the bottom half of the frame. Ronning doubled to left to make her 2-2 with a walk, and she came around to score on Hannah Woodworth's (Panora, Iowa/Panorama) RBI groundout. 

Ronning had her hands on both of the runs as she scored one and drove the other in. Dvorak also reached base twice, both via walks, in her first taste of playing shortstop at the collegiate level. 

Samantha Burkhart (Salix, Iowa/Westwood) got the start in the circle for the Eagles. She pitched three innings and gave up three earned runs. Diana Boyce (Phoenix, Ariz./Park City) threw the last two and gave up two earned runs. Defensive miscues plagued the Eagles as they missed their starting SS, Courtney Schmidt (Spring Valley, Minn/Kingsland), who helped the Eagles advance to the NCCAA women's basketball championship, and their starting RF, Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Area).

Game Two

Northwestern fell into an early 4-0 hole in game two, but the offense was able to battle back in a significant way throughout the middle innings. Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) hit a leadoff double in the fourth as she sought to help herself in the circle by getting the offense going. Shelby Stoll (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) was hit by a pitch and then both Woodworth and Hailey Hansen (Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central Area) walked, the latter bringing home Carlson. Stoll scored on a passed ball and Roesler scored Hansen with a double to make it 4-3 Blugolds. 

Eau Claire got one back in the fifth to make it 5-3, but Northwestern would not be shut down that easily. Ronning led off with a single back up the middle and advanced to third on Carlson's single to center. Stoll singled to bring home both Ronning and Carlson to tie the score at five with one out. Stoll then came around to score on the Blugold's third error of the frame to give the Eagles its first lead of the afternoon.

The Blugold hit a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth and then put up a crooked number in the seventh as they scored five runs to make it 11-6. The Eagles went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, and the gorgeous Thursday afternoon ended in a sweep for Eau Claire.

Ronning was 3-3 with a walk as she reached base all seven times she came to the plate. Carlson, Roesler, Woodworth, and Hansen all reached base twice. Briggs Carlson (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) threw 6.1 innings and gave up six earned runs while striking out two. Diana Boyce (Phoenix, Ariz./Park City) got the final two outs of the seventh.

Up Next

The Eagles play a doubleheader against Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, March 20th at Reynolds Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 pm.

Follow Northwestern softball online at www.unweagles.com or on Instagram @unwsoftball.