St. Norbert Garners Split With UW-La Crosse

From Sports Information Director, March 29, 2014 | Softball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

MAUSTON - St. Norbert College split a pair of one-run games in a non-conference doubleheader with UW-La Crosse, winning the opener 5-4 before dropping the nightcap 6-5 at Woodside Sports Complex.

St. Norbert (4-9) fell behind 4-0 through two innings in the opener before mounting its comeback. Jessica DeMeuse and Codi Jenshak both had RBI singles in the third inning to halve the Green Knights' deficit. St. Norbert tied the game in the fifth, when JoAnna Ruppa had an RBI single and DeMeuse powered a run-scoring double.

La Crosse (11-3) left two runners on in both the sixth and seventh innings before St. Norbert won the game in the bottom of the seventh. Samantha Gross led off the inning with a single and reached second base with two outs. Jenshak's single down the right-field line scored Gross with the winning run.

DeMeuse, Jenshak and Tayler Long all went 2-for-3 for St. Norbert, which had 10 hits. Morgan Rusch earned the complete-game win, allowing seven hits with two walks and one strikeout.

In the nightcap, the Eagles led 5-0 through three innings and St. Norbert couldn't quite catch up. The Green Knights scored four runs in the top of the fourth. Jenshak and an RBI single and Emily Laufer stroked a three-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-4.

La Crosse scored once in the fifth to lead 6-4. Gross tripled in Laufer in the top of the seventh with two outs, but the Green Knights couldn't plate the tying run.

Jenshak was 2-for-2, while Abby Gildernick was 2-for-3. Brianna Byrne took the loss, allowing seven hits and five runs in 2 2/3 innings.