EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The No. 20 UW-Stevens Point softball team (21-3, 1-1) opened league play with a split at UW-Eau Claire (12-8, 1-1) on Saturday. The Pointers came up short in the opener, 5-4, before posting a huge seventh-inning rally in game two for an 8-4 win.
 
Trinity Otto (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) blasted her first home run of the season in game one. She had a bases-clearing double in game two for a four-RBI day.
 
Kaitlyn Roberts (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) racked up five hits on the day. She drove in one and scored twice. Rachel Baker (Richmond, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) and Sara Traxel (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) had three hits apiece on the day on both had an RBI in game one.
 
Game 1 – UWSP 4, UWEC 5
Roberts doubled with one down in the first inning. She moved to third on a single by Traxel. Baker hit a sac fly to put UWSP up, 1-0.
 
Otto doubled UWSP's lead with a solo home run in the second inning. The Blugolds hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Roberts drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. Traxel followed with a double as Roberts raced home for a 3-2 advantage. Back-to-back errors by UWEC gave the Pointers a 4-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Blugolds used three hits and a walk to take a 5-4 lead.
 
Morgan Harwood (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) started and struck out three in 4.0 innings. Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) pitched the final 2.0 innings.
 
Game 2 – UWSP 8, UWEC 4
UWEC took a 2-0 lead in the first on four hits and a UWSP error, but left the bases loaded. The Blugolds upped their lead to 4-0 with two runs on two hits in the third.
 
The Pointers got on the board in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Roberts as she drove in Jesse Klicker (Spring Grove, Ill/Richmond-Burton Community).
 
In the sixth, Allie Meyers (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) reached on a one-out error. Two batters later, she scored on a single by Emma Stolzman (McHenry, Ill./McHenry Community) at the Pointers cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
 
Klicker drew a walk to begin the seventh. Roberts singled and an error on a sac bunt loaded the bases. Two batters later, Meyers singled to push in one run. Hannah Roepke (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) grounded out, but still drove in the tying run. Stolzman drew a walk to re-load the bases. Otto cleared the bases with a three-RBI double for a 7-4 lead. Lillie Lindgren (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) continued the rally with an RBI single for the 8-4 lead.
 
Elli Matzke (Glendale Heights, Ill./Glenbard North) and Zygowski pitched 3.0 innings each with a strikeout apiece. Harwood tossed the seventh with another strikeout.
 
The Pointers return home for the conference home opener on Wednesday (April 17) versus UW-Platteville. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.