LA CROSSE, Wis – Wartburg softball (13-5) was dominant today in a road doubleheader against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (9-7), where the Knights outscored the Eagles 16-2 with 16 total hits over 12 innings of play. The Knights won game one 7-1 before ending game two in five innings with a score of 9-1.
In game one, the Knights were led by a career-best four RBI day for
Addy Wells, who hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach. In game two,
Reagan Hassel led the Knights at the plate as she was a perfect 4/4 (career high), including two RBI and two doubles. Freshman pitchers
Hannah Hoefer (6-1) and
Katelyn Klever (4-3) both picked up wins in the circle for Wartburg.
Game Summary
- Game One
- Second Inning
- Liz Kruckenberg singled before Addy Wells walked to put runners on first and second for the Knights
- Kruckenberg stole third base and then jumped up after an overthrow and scored the first run of the game, while Wells made her way to third, but the Knights were unable to score Wells as the lead held at 1-0
- Third Inning
- Following a single, UW-La Crosse hit a triple to the center field wall and tied the game up at 1-1
- Wartburg's defense didn't allow another run as Hannah Hoefer struck out one batter and forced a flyout on another batter to get out of the inning
- Fourth Inning
- Alexis Larson and Carley Bredar both doubled to left field to bring across another run to put Wartburg back in front with a 2-1 lead
- Bredar took third base following a bobble from the catcher and then was brought home to score by a successful squeeze play executed by Wells, who was safe at first
- Wells stole second base to put herself in scoring position and Amanda Strzyzewski reached first before Ally Happ stepped up with two outs and delivered a single to left field that scored Wells and brought Strzyzewski to third
- Wartburg led 4-1 headed to the bottom half and the Eagles went three up and three down with three groundouts in the bottom of the fourth
- Fifth Inning
- Jenna Wiebenga singled and then Sophie Stanic pinch ran before Kruckenberg reached first on a bunt single that moved Stanic to second
- Bredar moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt before Wells stepped to the plate and blasted a three-run home run down the left field line to put the Knights in front 7-1 headed to the bottom of the fifth
- Game Two
- First Inning
- Hassel reached base on a bunt single and then was eventually brought around for the first run of game two following a passed ball and then a sacrifice bunt from Jenna Wiebenga, who was safe at first on the play
- The Knights added another run in the opening inning when Larson put down another sacrifice bunt, which scored Bella Mulder and gave Wartburg an early 2-0 lead
- Second Inning
- After the Wartburg defense allowed no first inning runs, Wartburg's offense tallied another score in the second inning when Bredar singled and then scored following a double to left field from Hassel to make the score 3-0
- Fourth Inning
- After both teams were kept off the scoreboard in the third, Stephanie Kiefer singled and was pinch ran for by Ally Happ to begin the fourth
- Happ advanced following a passed ball and then scored two batters later when Kruckenberg reached on an error
- Kruckenberg stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Hassel delivered another double to left field for the Knights to push the Wartburg lead to 5-0
- Fifth Inning
- Wartburg led off the fifth inning with three walks from Klever, Larson and Wells with just one out before Happ walked to score Klever and keep the bases loaded
- Bredar hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Larson to push the score to 7-0 before Rylie Metz stepped to the plate for a pinch hit opportunity where she delivered a two-RBI single past the short stop
- The Knights led 9-0 headed to the bottom half
- The first three batters for UW-La Crosse reached in the bottom of the fifth to bring one run across, but Klever responded with an out before Lauren Dyer took over in the circle for the final two batters as the Knights closed out a 9-1 mercy-rule win
Top Performers
Notes/Streaks
- The Knights are now 14-7 against UW-La Crosse
- Have won four-straight against the Eagles
- Back-to-back doubleheader sweeps
- First time playing at UW-La Crosse in series history
- Second home run of the season for Wells
- Wells recorded a career-best four RBI in game one
- Fourth player this season to record four or more RBI in a game
- Hoefer is now 6-1 and Klever is now 4-3 in pitching decisions this season
- Hassel recorded a career-high four hits in game two
- Third different player with a four-hit game for Knights this season
- Happ has now stolen a team-high 20 bases this season
- Metz has provided three hits and four RBI in just nine at bats this season
- Seventh-straight game with eight or more hits for Wartburg
- Wartburg has now totaled 34 doubles and 12 home runs so far this season
Next Time Out
Wartburg will continue nonconference action this weekend as the Knights will compete in the Illinois Wesleyan University softball tournament with two games each day on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 28-29 in Bloomington, Ill.
