LA CROSSE, WI — The La Crosse Steam split a doubleheader against the Madison Night Mares at Copeland Park in front of 531 fans.
Game 1: La Crosse’s starting pitcher, Mackenzie Willis (Belmont), delivered an exceptional performance, pitching seven innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits, and striking out seven batters.
Madison’s starter, Holly Lowenberg (Bryant and Stratton), pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits.
The scoring for the Steam began in the bottom of the second inning when Avary Makarewicz (Eastern Illinois) hit a solo home run.
In the third inning, Grace Frechette (St. Cloud State) added another run with a sacrifice fly.
The Steam continued to build their lead in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Calli Janik (Mount Mercy), bringing the score to 3-0. Lindsey Schultz contributed an RBI single in the sixth inning, driving in Alexis Watson and making it 4-0, which held as the final score.
Game 2: The Night Mares dominated early in the second game, scoring nine runs in the top of the first inning. Carly Oliver started the scoring with an RBI double and later scored on an error. Tia Durst added an RBI single, followed by a two-RBI single from Sydney Jones. Additional runs came from an RBI single by Addie Blomberg, another error, and a wild pitch.
La Crosse’s starting pitcher, Alexis Watson (Viterbo), struggled, allowing four runs on two hits and failing to complete the first inning.
Madison’s starter, Karlie McKenzie (Eastern Illinois), pitched four innings, allowing no runs on three hits and striking out five.
The Night Mares continued their offensive surge in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Chloe Wamboldt, making it 10-0.
In the fifth inning, Kayla Thomas hit a two-RBI double, followed by another two-RBI double from Addie Blomberg, pushing the final score to 14-0.
With these results, the La Crosse Steam’s record stands at 3-10, while the Madison Night Mares improved to 7-7. The La Crosse Steam will travel to Madison on July 2nd for their next matchup against the Night Mares.
