RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) – The UW-River Falls softball team put up 24 hits in two games and threw a combined no hitter in game one to give the Falcons a series sweep over the Lions of Finlandia. 
 
Game One: UW-River Falls 15 Finlandia University 0
 
Michelle LaCasse and Maddie Studnicka were impressive in the circle for the Falcons in game one as they combined to throw the Falcons first no hitter of the 2016 season, and the first since they no hit Finlandia back in March of 2015. LaCasse started the game and went two innings while striking out three Lion batters. Studnicka came on in relief for LaCasse and went the final three innings while striking out four Lions. LaCasse got her sixth win of the season and Studnicka picked up her first save of the year.
 
The Falcons started off the scoring run in the bottom of the first inning when Abby Veloske scored on Michelle LaCasse's single to right field, this single also allowed Aiyana Ledwein to move up to second base. Ledwein would be the next Falcon runner to cross home plate when Katie Thompson brought her in on a bases loaded walk. Capping off the scoring for River Falls in the bottom of the first was Mady Bunnell who scored on Ali Murray's single to left field.
 
Batting around in the bottom of the second inning, the Falcons scored five runs on four hits to push the score to 8-0. Abby Veloske started off the inning with a bang when she hit one out of the ballpark. A pitch hit Michelle LaCasse and then Mady Bunnell walked to put two runners on base as Katie Thompson strolled up to the plate and smacked a three run homerun. Shannon Borchardt followed Thompson up by hitting the third homerun of the inning.
 
The bottom of the third inning went just about as well as the Falcons could have hoped as they scored six runs on six hits and also took advantage of an error by the Lions. Ledwein would start the inning off with a single and then would steal second base. Thompson singled to left scoring Ledwein from second base. Borchardt followed up Thompson's single with a double to left which moved Thompson over to third base and both runners would score on Sarah Sorensen's double to center field. Ali Murray walked and stole second which allowed Sorensen to score. Murray was brought in on Hannah Zurn's single to center field. Driving in Zurn for the final run of the inning and pushing the score to 14-0 Falcons was Aiyana Ledwein who singled for the second time in the inning.
 
The Falcons brought in the 15^th run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Amber Galloway walked with the bases loaded to score Kaia Dorn who had walked to start the inning. In the bottom of the fourth the Falcons left three runners on base after loading the bases with no outs.
 
Pitching the whole game for the Lions of Finlandia University was Hillary Brewer. Brewer gave up 12 earned runs on 13 hits and she also struck out five Falcon batters but walked eight while taking the loss.
 
In total the Falcons tallied 13 hits on no errors and the Lions tallied no runs on no hits and also had two errors throughout the course of the five-inning game that ended on the run rule.
 
Game Two: UW-River Falls 10 Finlandia University 2
 
Stepping into the circle to pitch the second game of the day for the Falcons was Payton Speckel. Speckel pitched five full innings while allowing one earned run on just three hits. Speckel also added an impressive nine strikeouts while picking up her third win of the season.
 
Pitching the game for Finlandia and taking the loss was Youken who allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits while also adding three walks and one strikeout.
 
Finlandia started off the scoring when they scored their only runs of the day in the top of the first inning when Hillary Brewer singled to second base scoring Jewett and Krider to push the score to 2-0 Lions at the time.
 
Ali Murray started off the hit parade in game two for the Falcons when she doubled to center field with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Kamyn Peterson-Rucker drove in Murray with a single to left field to push the game closer as the score would read 2-1 Lions after one full inning.
 
Sarah Sorensen picked up her first hit of the game when she singled to right field in the bottom of the second inning. Sorensen then stole second base and was brought in on Hannah Zurn's double to right field. Abby Veloske picked up the third hit of the inning and drove in Zurn when she singled to left field to make the score 3-2 Falcons at the end of the second inning.
 
Starting off the Falcons half of the third inning was Ali Murray. Murray proceeded to single to the shortstop and then advanced on an error by the catcher that allowed Peterson-Rucker to reach base. Katie Thompson popped up to the catcher and drove in Murray as the catcher threw the ball to third base to get Peterson-Rucker out on the play. Thompson advanced to second on Shannon Borchardt's single to third base and both runners were brought in on Payton Speckel's single to right field. Speckel would advance to second on Zurn's walk and would then steal third base before scoring to push the score to 7-2 Falcons after the dust had settled on three full innings of softball at beautiful Ramer Field.
 
The Falcons would score two more run in the bottom of the fourth as Aiyana Ledwein doubled to left and then was brought in on Murray's double to left. The second run of the inning came after Peterson-Rucker walked, and advanced to second base allowing Murray to advance to third and ultimately score on the throw. After four innings of play the score was 9-2 Falcons.
 
Sarah Sorensen walked the game off in the bottom of the fifth, as the game would end on the run rule when she tripled to right field and then scored on the throw. The Falcons would take the game by a tally of 10-2.
 
The Falcons travel to UW-Stevens Point on Sunday April 17th, to take on the Pointers in a doubleheader with game one slated to start at 1 P.M.