Game One Box
Game Two Box

SUPERIOR – The seventh-seeded UW-Stevens Point softball team kicked off the 2009 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament on Friday, dropping their opening game to second-seeded UW-La Crosse 3-2 before rebounding in the losers bracket with a 4-3 victory over sixth-seeded UW-Stout.

The Pointers now advance to day two of the double-elimination tournament and will face fifth-seeded UW-River Falls in another elimination game on Saturday, May 2 at 11 a.m.

In game one against UW-La Crosse, the Eagles took a 2-0 lead off Stevens Point starter Kayla Kastenmeier (Ashwaubenon) in the bottom of the third, as both runs crossed the plate unearned.

Stevens Point answered in the fifth, as Melissa Wenig (Oshkosh) hit a one out home run, her fifth of the season, cutting the deficit to one, 2-1.

Down by one heading into the seventh, Elyse Nelson (Batavia, IL) led off the inning with a long ball of her own, going deep for the fifth time this season, knotting the score at 2-2.

But errors again came back to haunt the Pointers in the bottom of the seventh, as La Crosse's Jenna Ahnen scored on a Pointers' error, sealing the 3-2 victory.

Kastenmeier suffered the loss, going six innings, allowing six hits, three runs, none earned, while striking out eight.

In game two against Stout, the Pointers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning as Sarah Butts (Greenfield) doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.

In the third, the Blue Devils came fighting back, scoring two runs to take their first lead of the game, 2-1.

Facing another deficit, the Pointers responded, as three runs crossed home plate in the fourth as Jessica Berger (Bonduel) led off the inning with a home run, her team-high sixth of the season. After a Lauren Watkins (Baraboo) triple, Nelson reached on a fielding error by the Blue Devils. Later in the inning, Wenig singled and later scored on another Stout error, giving UWSP the 4-2 lead.

Stout added a run in the fifth, but Pointer pitcher Allie Dorn (Greenville) ended the threat and held on for the complete game victory. Dorn allowed just five hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking one.