PEORIA, Ill. – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (4-2) earned a pair of wins on Thursday at the Blue Angel Invite. UWSP defeated Loras, 7-2, in the opener before needing extra innings and a walk-off home run for a 6-3 victory over Edgewood.
Senior
Maddie Candre (St. Charles, Ill./East) had four hits on the day, two of which were doubles against Edgewood. Those doubles lifted her out of tie atop the school career list with 46 in her career. She drove in two and scored four times on the day.
Trinity Otto (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) had three hits on the day, including her first collegiate home run. She drove in two and scored twice.
Abby Van Beek (Mayville, Wis./Mayville) and
Sara Traxel (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) each hit safely in both games. Van Beek drove in four on the day and scored twice. Traxel scored a run and drove in another.
In the circle,
Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) backed up her WIAC Pitcher of the Week honor with a win and a save on the day. She racked up eight more strikeouts.
Game 1 – UWSP 7, Loras 3
An early pitching dual was finally cracked in the third inning. Loras put up two unearned runs for a 2-0 lead as UWSP looked for its first hit through three innings.
In the top of the fourth, Candre reached on an error to lead off. Otto drew a walk to put two aboard. Traxel followed with a sac bunt and the throw went into right field allowing a run to score and two runners to advance into scoring position. Van Beek singled up the middle to push home a run and tie the game. A third Loras error of the inning allowed Van Beek to score the go-ahead run.
The Pointers tacked on in the fifth with a two-out rally. Candre and Otto hit back-to-back singles. Traxel then launched a ball to center that one-hopped the wall holding UWSP to just a single run in the inning.
Sophia Heckendorf (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) singled with one away in the sixth.
Rachel Baker (Richmond, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) drew a walk and an infield single by
Allie Meyers (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) loaded the bases. Two batters later, Candre singled through the right side to score two and put runners at the corners. On the next pitch, UWSP plated another run as
Keltie Cloud (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) scored as Candre got in a rundown to make it 7-2.
The Duhawks got a run in the bottom of the seventh on a pair of doubles to complete the scoring.
Makenna Tkach (Streator, Ill./Marquette Academy) pitched 4.0 innings with four strikeouts to pick up her first win of the season. Zygowski tossed the final 3.0 frames with two strikeouts to earn her first career save.
Game 2 – UWSP 6, Edgewood 3 (8 inn.)
It took until the third inning again for a team to crack the scoreboard. The Eagles struck first with three runs on three hits for a 3-0 UWSP deficit.
In the bottom of the frame, Candre dropped a two-bagger into left field for the career lead. But she was stranded at second as the inning ended.
Baker led off the fifth with a walk. Tkach replaced her at first on a fielder's choice. Two batters later, Candre doubled again pushing pinch runner Cloud to third. A wild pitch plated one run. Then Otto blasted a two-run home run to center, her first career home run, to tie the game at 3-3.
The game remained tied into the eighth inning. Zygowski stranded the runner without a run allowed and it was up to the Pointers to end it.
Candre was placed on second to begin the frame. Otto sacrifice bunted her to third. Traxel worked a walk to put runners on the corners. That was inconsequential as Van Beek launched a walk-off three-run home run to center for the win.
Zygowski pitched the final 3.0 innings to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the year. She struck out six. Van Beek struck out five and Tkach fanned three.
The Pointers wrap up the weekend on Friday (Mar. 3) with games against Mount Mary at 10:00 a.m. and Augustana at 12:30 p.m.
