Yellowjackets report: UWS softball survives long day at UMAC tournament
May 13—It was a long day in a new place, but Wisconsin-Superior softball extended its season to the final day of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference softball tournament, which moved to St. Joseph, Minnesota on Saturday, May 13.
The Yellowjackets suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 10-inning loss to Bethany Lutheran to drop into the elimination bracket but dismissed Northwestern 7-1 to get to the championship game, which they'll need to win twice on Sunday, May 14.
The Bethany game was a thriller, if a bit messy. UWS took the lead in the top of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk, but an RBI single in the bottom of the frame sent the game to extra innings.
Unearned runs were a bit of a theme in the game, as BLC helped UWS stay in the game despite getting outhit 16-8 by committing seven errors to the Yellowjackets' three. The Vikings also issued 12 walks.
The Yellowjackets took the lead in the 10th after a one-out fly ball to right. Larissa Snyder, attempting to advance from second to third, got all the way home after an error in the infield. However, a one-out single in the bottom of the inning from Emily Doyle scored two and won the game.
Snyder, Ellie Macal and MyKenzie Leccia had two hits apiece.
Tayler Kraemer pitched all of it for UWS, allowing eight runs on 16 hits. She struck out 10 and walked two.
The Yellowjackets took care of the elimination game quickly, scoring three times in each of their first two at-bats.
Jenna Hoops had two hits including a double and drove in three runs. Zoe Thomson added two hits and two RBIs.
Kraemer gave UWS another seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits. She struck out four and walked three.
UWS (29-11) will need to win two championship games starting at noon against Bethany Lutheran to take the UMAC Tournament.
* Poor weather in Mankato that washed out a day of the UMAC softball tournament, then forced it to a different part of Minnesota, continued to plague the league's baseball tournament.
The only baseball played on Saturday was the completion of a Crown-Bethany Lutheran game that was suspended late Friday night due to curfew. Bethany won 15-0, sending Crown to the elimination bracket to face UWS in a 10 a.m. game on Sunday, May 13. The winner of that game will have to win two more games against the home team for the championship.
