CLERMONT, Fla. – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (5-9) put forth a solid effort in a pair of losses to ranked opponents on Monday. In game one, the Pointers dropped an 8-0 five-inning game to No. 22 St. Thomas. UWSP had the tying run at the plate and out-hit Linfield in a 4-2 defeat to the seventh-ranked Wildcats.
Freshman pitcher
Ashley Cohen (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) held the Wildcats to just seven hits in a complete game effort. She struck out three and only walks two batters.
Offensively,
Paige Kitzing (Mount Pleasant, WI/J.I. Case) had three hits on the day and scored a run.
Kirsten Perkinson (Dunlap, IL/Dunlap),
Jen Jacobson (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook) and
Katie Uhlenbrauck (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville) each added two hits. Perkinson and Uhlenbrauck drove in a run each.
Game 1 – UWSP 0, UST 8 (5 inn.)
The Tommies took a first inning lead on a pair of solo home runs to center field. UWSP starter
Amelia Heup (Milwaukee, WI/Lutheran) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second without giving up a run.
The Pointers got singles from Uhlenbrauck and Kitzing, but both runners were stranded at the end of the frame.
In the third inning, St. Thomas strung together three-straight one-out hits to push home two more runs.
Jacobson lined a singled to left to begin the fourth inning. She remained at first as the inning closed.
The Tommies put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, all crossing the plate with two outs.
Game 2 – UWSP 2, Linfield 4
The Wildcats took an early lead in the first inning. A walk, a fielder's choice and a double plated two runs for Linfield.
Perkinson singled to left to begin the UWSP first inning. Uhlenbrauck sacrificed her to second and a grounder to the right side moved Perkinson to third, but she was left standing there to end the inning.
The Pointers' second started promising as
Ashley Cohen (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) singled through the left side. After being replaced at first on a fielder's choice,
Morgan Johnson (Combined Locks, WI/Kaukauna) singled to short. Both runners moved up on a throwing error by the catcher on an attempted pickoff. A pop up and groundout kept UWSP off the board.
Linfield posted back-to-back one-out hits to put two runners in scoring position in the third. A line drive out to deep left drove in the third run of the game.
The Pointers broke through in the fourth. With two away, Kitzing singled to right.
Alyssa Cooper (Little Suamico, WI/Bay Port) followed with a base on balls. Perkinson then sent a single to center to plate the first run of the game for the Pointers.
Back-to-back two-out hits landed Linfield another run to make it 4-1 in the fourth. In the bottom of the frame, the Pointers threatened with two outs. Perkinson singled, Cooper walked and Kitzing singled to load the bases, but Linfield induced a fly out to center to end the threat.
The Pointers got two aboard in the sixth, but were not able to push home a run. In the seventh, Uhlenbrauck drilled a first-pitch home run to center field. With one away, Jacobson singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Linfield closed out the win with back-to-back outs.
UWSP returns to play at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday against Wesleyan and at 11:30 a.m. ET versus Lawrence.
