After splitting a doubleheader with UW-Eau Claire earlier in April, the Falcons of UW-River Falls hoped to take both games on a gorgeous sunny afternoon at home. Unfortunately, the visitors bested them both times on this day.
Game 1
Game one brought forth some phenomenal softball by both teams. The first three innings brought a lot of hits for the Falcons, however all the baserunners were left stranded until the bottom of the 4th.
Junior Chapin Rappaport led the inning with a walk, then Hannah Richards came in to pinch run. Allison Kondzela then grounded out to advance Richards to second. Next to the plate came Lindsey Strom, who also grounded out, but a throwing error by the first baseman allowed Richards to score and give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Perhaps spurred on by the opponents drawing first blood, the Blugolds found their hot streak in the top of the 5th. After an RBI single to tie things up, UW-EC smacked a two run homer to bring the score to 3-1. The Falcons, however, weren't going down without a fight.
In the bottom of the 6th, both Sammie Harms and Johanna Breyen walked to find themselves at first and second. Senior Rebecca Daley then sent the ball to left field to advance Breyen and bring Harms in to score. Unfortunately for the Falcons, this would be their last run of the game, bringing the final score of game one to 3-2.
Game 2
After a quick break, the Falcons got right back to business in game two of the double header.
Once again the game was a bit slow to start, but the bats started going in the 4th inning. The Blugolds were first to strike, putting two runs on the board in the 4th inning.
Not to be outdone, the Falcons responded immediately in their half of the inning. Freshman Keegan Piton added yet another double to her name to get the rally started for the Falcons. Rappaport followed next with a single to center field, bringing Piton in to score. Strom kept the rally alive following in Rappaport's footsteps, singling to center and advancing on the throw, bringing Rappaport in to score for the tying run.
In the top of the fifth, the Blugolds hit a leadoff homerun, then were able to knock in two more runs to bring the score to 5-2.
However going into the bottom of the inning, the Falcons came out swinging to bring in more runs. Daley started things off for the Falcons by singling to left field. Junior Natalie Bosch followed with another single to left, advancing Daley and both were able to advance to second and third on a pass ball. The Blugolds then elected to intentional walk Piton to load the bases and have a force out available at every base.
That decision proved to not be the right move.
Rappaport was once again at the plate and hit a booming single to the warning tract in center field advancing all runners for two runs, bringing the score to 5-4. The Falcons threatened to score after that but ultimately were held at bay by UW-EC.
In the final inning, the Blugolds offense caught fire as they trotted eight runs across the plate, bringing the final to 13-4.
With the two losses, the Falcons fall to 10-12 on the year. The Falcons next game will be at home on Friday, April 30th when they take on Pointers of UW- Stevens Point at home.
