GRINNELL, Iowa – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (12-10) earned a split at Grinnell (3-15) on Sunday and matched the team's win total from each of the last two seasons.  The Pointers took game one, 5-4, but came up short in game two, 12-7.
 
Ashley Cohen (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) and Lauren Luedtke (Lomira, Wis./Lomira) had a pair of hits in each game.  Luedtke had three RBI and scored twice.  Cohen scored three runs and drove in another.
 
Freshmen Maddie Candre (St. Charles, Ill./East) and Sammy Buerger (Oshkosh, Wis./North) each had three hits on the day.  Candre drove in three and scored three runs.  Buerger had an RBI.
 
Game 1 – UWSP 5, Grinnell 4
UWSP took the lead in the second inning as singles by Luedtke and Morgan Johnson (Combined Locks, Wis./Kaukauna) put runners at the corners.  A successful double steal put the Pointers ahead, 1-0.  The Pioneers tied the game in the bottom of the frame with two hits.
 
Grinnell took the lead on a sac fly in the third inning as UWSP trailed 2-1.
 
In the fourth, Luedtke and Johnson reached via a walk and a hit by pitch.  Consecutive groundouts pushed home the tying run.
 
After the Pioneers took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, the Pointers rallied in the sixth.  Jordyn Hynst (West Bend, Wis./East) drew a leadoff walk.  Erin Schmitt (Waupun, Wis./Waupun) reached on a fielder's choice as pinch runner Halle Vardon (Algoma, Wis./Algoma) moved into scoring position.   Both runners advanced on a sac bunt by Rachael Wakefield (River Falls, Wis./River Falls).  Cohen followed with a single to tie the game at 3-3.  Buerger and Candre each singled to drive in a run and give UWSPa  5-3 lead.
 
Grinnell got one run in the seventh, but left the tying run aboard. 

Game 2 – UWSP 7, Grinnell 12
The Pioneers scored once in the first and three times in the second to put UWSP in a 4-0 hole.
 
Schmitt began a rally in the third with a leadoff single.  A Grinnell error and a single by Cohen loaded the bases.  Two batters later, Candre doubled to push home a pair.  Madi Greenaberg (Downers Grove, Ill./North) drew a walk to reload the bases and Luedtke hit a two-run single to tie the game at 4-4.
 
Two singles and two walks gave Grinnell a 5-4 lead in the fourth.  Candre singled, stole second and scored on a Greenaberg hit tied the game at 5-5.
 
Grinnell took the lead for good in the fifth with four runs on three hits and three UWSP errors.  The damage could have been worse, but the Pioneers stranded the bases loaded.  The Pioneers added three more runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
 
The Pointers didn't give up in the seventh.  Anna Palicka (Lisle, Ill./Lisle) followed a Cohen walk with a single.  Two batters later, Greenaberg walked to load the bases.  A wild pitch plated a run and a groundout by Luedtke scored another, but it wasn't enough in the 12-7 defeat.
 
UWSP returns home to open conference play on Thursday (April 4) against UW-Whitewater.  First pitch is slated for 2:00 p.m. at McCarty Memorial Field.