Game 1 Box |
Game 2 Box
STEVENS POINT – The UW-Stevens Point softball team pushed its winning streak to four games on Thursday afternoon, fighting off the chilly temperatures to sweep their second straight nonconference doubleheader, defeating the Ripon College Red Hawks 5-4 and 9-1.
Both offenses stayed cold early in game one, as neither team could push runs across the plate through four innings.
Ripon drew first blood in the fifth, Abby Richeson led off the inning with a solo home run to left field and later Maeghan Boswell scored on a Stephanie Rieuwpassa single.
The Pointers responded an inning later when Kimberly Liegel (Madison/LaFollette) scored on an Elyse Nelson (Batavia, IL/Batavia) double, Sarah Butts (Greenfield/Greenfield) brought home Megan Tracy (Batavia, IL/Batavia) on a sacrifice fly and Katie Krueger (Plover, WI/SPASH) blasted a two-run home run to right field, pushing UWSP in front 4-2.
Ripon answered in the seventh, plating two runs to knot the score at 4-4 before Sara Babbitts (Green Bay, WI/Ashwaubenon) relieved starter Michelle Jones (Madison, WI/La Follette) and retired the only batter she faced to end the threat.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Pointers loaded the bases, thanks in part to a Ripon error and Butts drew the game-winning walk-off walk from Ripon reliever Brittnee Peotter.
Jones went 6.2 innings but did not factor into the decision. Babbitts earned the win, her fifth of the season.
In game two, the Pointers made quick work of the Red Hawks, allowing just one run on four hits while plating nine runs to win the run-shortened game in just over an hour.
Nicole Henke (Stevens Point/SPASH) finished game two 2-3 with three runs scored while Krueger added two doubles and four RBIs in the victory.
Babbitts earned her second victory of the afternoon, improving her record to 6-5. She faced just four batters more than the minimum while recording a strikeout.
UW-Stevens Point (17-9) returns to action with an important pair of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) games at UW-Platteville and UW-La Crosse. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for Noon starts.
