UW-L Starts Season at Finlandia Dome Tournament with Four Wins

For Immediate Release: Monday, March 3, 2008

Marquette, Mich. – The UW-La Crosse softball team opened its 2008 season with a 4-1 record at the Finlandia University Dome Tournament in Marquette, Michigan. The Eagles fell in their opening game, 8-4, to Hope College (Mich.) March 1 before coming back to defeat Concordia University (Wis.) by the score of 9-0 in six innings and Marian College (Wis.) by a 5-4 margin.

UW-L then defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) 8-0 and Finlandia (Mich.) 11-2 March 2. Both contests went five innings.

The Eagles’ Rachel Weyer finished 11-of-17 (.647) in the five games with five home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs scored. She finished with a slugging percentage of 1.588%.

Rachel Croak went seven-of-16 (.438) for UW-L while Sarah Pfeifer went six-of-16 (.375) with five RBI and four runs scored.

UW-L hit .328 as a team with nine home runs, 27 RBI and 37 runs scored. The Eagles also finished with eight doubles and 77 total bases while going 13-of-15 in stolen base attempts.

The Eagles’ pitching staff held their opponents to a .193 batting average and compiled a 2.57 earned run average. Heather Schultz went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, allowing five hits, two runs (both unearned) and five walks with 15 strikeouts.

In the season-opener against Hope, Weyer, Liz Bradley and Emily Eggers each hit home runs for UW-L. Against Concordia, Weyer and Pfeifer connected for home runs as the Eagles picked up their first win of the year. Weyer was 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI while Pfeifer finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, three RBI, a home run and double. Schultz earned the win, going six innings.

Marian forced a 4-4 tie in its contest with UW-L, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh, but Weyer hit the game winning solo home run in the bottom of the inning for an Eagles’ victory. It was Weyer’s second home run of the game as she finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Pfeifer was 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored while Shelly Monahan picked up the win going all seven innings.

UW-L outscored its two opponents, 19-2, in the final day of competition. Kaylyn Von Glahn (three innings) and Jess Iwanski (two) pitched a shutout for the Eagles in an 8-0 victory over MSOE. Eggers had two RBI and Pfeifer two runs scored. Weyer then went 4-for-4 with a home run, double, four RBI and three runs scored and Rachel Croak finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI in 11-2 win over Finlandia. Bradley also hit a home run and had three RBI. Schultz went five innings to get the win, finishing with nine strikeouts.

UW-L returns to action Sunday, March 16 playing Lakeland College (Iowa) and Augsburg College (Minn.) in Tucson, Arizona for the start of its spring break trip.