River Falls, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) – The UW-River Falls softball team hosted UW-Eau Claire in their last doubleheader of the regular season on Monday afternoon. The Falcons provided some late inning heroics, with Noelle Senour and Molly Kaspar hit a pair of 2-run home runs to tie the game at 5 and send it to extra innings. The Blugolds pushed across a run in the top of the 8^th and the Falcons were unable to answer and fell in game 1, 6-5 in extra innings. Senour hit her second homer of the day to get the Falcons started in game 2, Amber Galloway and Aiyana Ledwein added RBIs of their own and it was more than enough as the Falcons got great pitching from Payton Speckel and Hannah Stegeman to shout out the Blugolds and get a split, winning game 2 by a score of 3-0.


Game Note: The doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was bumped up a day due to inclement weather in the forecast.

THE RUNDOWN GAME 1 vs UW-Eau Claire
Final Score: UW-River Falls 5, UW-Eau Claire 6.
Location: River Falls, Wis.
Records: UWRF 20-13, 5-8. UW-Eau Claire 20-15, 7-6.

WHAT HAPPENED IN GAME 1

• The Blugolds got on the board first in the top of the second after a lead-off single and a stolen base, gave the Blugolds a 1-0 lead.
• The Falcons answered in their half of the 2^nd inning, when Aiyana Ledwein drove in Ali Krohn with a double to right center field, tying the game at 1.
• The Blugolds jumped back on top in the third inning after stringing together a couple of singles to push a run across to get a 2-1 lead.
• The Blugolds used three walks and a couple singles in a 3-run fourth inning to go up 5-1.
• The Falcons would threaten over the next couple of innings but the score would stay 5-1 until the bottom of the 7^th. Ledwein singled to lead off the inning. Molly Kaspar was the next batter up and she hit a towering shot to left field for a 2-run homer to get the Falcons within 2 at 5-3. Kaia Dorn continued the hit parade and singled into center field. Noelle Senour was the next batter up and she hit a 2-run homer down the left field line to tie the game up at 5. The Falcons continued to put runners on in the 7^th with hopes of ending the game there, but it was not meant to be as the Falcons left two on base but sent the game to extra innings.
• The Blugolds pushed across a run in the top of the 8^th with an RBI double to go up 6-5.
• The Falcons put runners on 1^st and 2^nd in the bottom of the 8^th with one out, but could not get a run home and fell in game 1, 6-5.
• Maddie Studnicka pitched well in the loss, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits in 4 innings of work.

THE RUNDOWN GAME 2 vs UW-Eau Claire
Final Score: UW-River Falls 3, UW-Eau Claire 0
Location: River Falls, Wis.
Records: UWRF 21-13, 6-8. UW-Eau Claire 20-16, 7-7.

WHAT HAPPENED IN GAME 2

• Both teams' pitching and defense stole the show early in the game with each half inning going by very quickly and neither team really threatening to score.
• Senour broke the 0-0 tie in the bottom of the 4^th when she hit a long solo home run to left, to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
• Galloway and Ledwein supplied the Falcons with some insurance runs in the bottom of the 5^th with an RBI double and single respectively to put the Falcons up 3-0.
• Speckel and the defense took it from there as Speckel struck out two in the final 2 innings and the defense was solid behind her to keep the Blugolds from getting past second base and the Falcons cruised to a 3-0 win.
• Hannah Stegeman got the shutout started by going 2 and 1/3 of an inning, giving up just 1 hit over that span. Speckel finished the last 4 and 2/3^rds giving up just 1 hit and striking out 2, to pick up her 10^th win on the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Falcons currently sit in the 5^th and final spot to qualify for the WIAC tournament held later this week. There are a few games left to be played in the WIAC that will determine whether or not the Falcons get in, updates on the postseason will be posted on uwrfsports.com.