MENOMONIE– The University of Wisconsin-Stout softball team split a doubleheader against the UW-Superior Yellowjackets on Tuesday at Alumni Field, falling 11-4 in the opener before rebounding with an 8-0 shutout victory in the nightcap.
Game 1: UW-Superior 11, UW-Stout 4
UW-Superior jumped out to an early lead in the first game and never looked back, securing an 11-4 victory. The Yellowjackets scored four runs in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on four hits and a throwing error. Peyton Bennett led Superior's offensive charge, going 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Stout responded with a run in the second on an RBI single by
Liz Rohl, scoring
Stephanie Kuhn, who doubled earlier in the inning. The Blue Devils added another run in the third when
Payton Dolecki scored on an error, and two more in the fourth on a double by Abbey Dusterhof and an RBI groundout by
Donna D'Addabbo, cutting the deficit to 7-4. However, Superior pulled away with a four-run seventh inning.
Stephanie Kuhn paced Stout's offense with a 2-for-3 performance, including two doubles and a run scored, while
Liz Rohl also went 2-for-3 with an RBI. On the mound,
Jennalyn Mallmann provided 6.1 innings of relief, surrendering seven runs (three earned) on 11 hits.
Game 2: UW-Stout 8, UW-Superior 0 (6 innings)
The Blue Devils bounced back emphatically in the second game, shutting out the Yellowjackets 8-0 in six innings behind a dominant pitching performance from
Anna Blanford. Blanford (8-6) tossed a complete-game shutout, scattering five hits and striking out six over 6.0 innings to stifle Superior's offense.
Stout broke through in the second inning, plating three runs on four hits.
Grace Vowell delivered an RBI double off the left field fence, and
Payton Dolecki drove in two with a single to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead. The score held until the sixth, when Stout erupted for five runs to invoke the run rule.
Elly Holden's two-run double and Vowell's RBI single highlighted the inning.
Offensively, Stout racked up 13 hits, with
Payton Dolecki (3-for-4, 2 RBIs),
Emma Muehlenbeck (3-for-3, 1 run), and
Grace Vowell (3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 run) leading the way.
Donna D'Addabbo also contributed two hits and scored a run. The Yellowjackets managed just five hits and left 10 runners on base.
Up Next
The Blue Devils will be back in action Wednesday, April 16 when they travel to River Falls, Wis for a doubleheader with the Falcons at 2 p.m.
