One out away from a perfect opening day at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball tournament, UW-Stevens Point saw UW-River Falls use a dramatic seventh inning rally and then explode for a big ninth inning to hand the Pointers an 11-7 setback on Friday in Eau Claire.

The Pointers hit seven home runs in their first two games, but slipped to 31-7 with the split and now must win five straight games on Saturday to capture the WIAC tournament title. They face UW-Whitewater in the first elimination game at 9 a.m.

After winning their opening game of the day 9-1 over UW-La Crosse, the Pointers led UW-River Falls 5-3 with two outs and a runner at second base in the top of the seventh. However, the Falcons got back-to-back run-scoring singles from Rebecca Troop and Ashley James to tie the game.

UW-River Falls then broke out for a huge inning with seven singles in the ninth inning. Mindy Rudiger and Emily Howlett each had hits in the inning and finished with four apiece for the game. UW-Stevens Point's Stephanie Anderson (Milwaukee/King) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to provide the final margin.

UW-Stevens Point scored all of its runs off home runs in the second game and got off to a fast start as Korryn Brooks (Stevens Point/SPASH) hit a three-run homer in the first inning. After UW-River Falls plated two runs in the third, Pointers' senior Melissa Boldt (New Berlin/Eisenhower) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to regain the three-run lead. UW-River Falls scored a run in the fourth before its dramatic seventh inning rally.

Anderson pitched eight and one-third innings and allowed 17 hits and 10 runs, though nine of the hits and seven of the runs came in the final two and one-third innings. UW-River Falls had 19 hits, while the Pointers totaled 11 hits in the loss.

In the opener, the Pointers set a single-game school record with four home runs, getting solo shots from Brooks in the first inning, Jackie Berger (Bonduel/Bonduel) in the third and Anderson in the fourth. Laura Van Abel added a two-run homer in the fifth as the Pointers won by the eight-run rule.

UW-Stevens Point pounded out 12 hits in the victory and its first nine hits came from all nine players in the lineup. Anderson worked all five innings and scattered eight hits for the team's eighth straight victory.