The University of Wisconsin Superior locked in a berth into next week's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference postseason tournament with a doubleheader sweep and a pair of mercy-shortened victories as the Yellowjackets defeated North Central University 8-0 and 11-2 at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex in Superior on Saturday afternoon.

UW-Superior (16-15, 9-7 UMAC) will only need to travel across the bridge to Duluth as the College of St. Scholastica wrapped up the top seed in the conference tournament earlier in the day, and the Yellowjackets will be the fourth seed in the five-team UMAC Tournament beginning Thursday at Kenwood Ave Field. The Yellowjackets made short work of North Central (0-34, 0-16 UMAC) in game one as rookie right-hander Megan Pehrson (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids H.S.) dominated on the mound, setting down the first 10 batters in order on strikeouts before the conference's leading hitter Amanda Roth ripped a double. She would be stranded there as Pehrson finished striking out the side in the inning, finishing with 13 punchouts on the daya, allowing just the one hit while getting her other two outs on a dribbling groundout and a foul pop on the infield.

UWS scored two in the first, making good on a Rams error while sophomore designated hitter Bailey Armstrong (Scandia, Minn/Forest Lake H.S.) singled home the team's second run. First-year infielder Maggie Cragg (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park H.S.) ripped an RBI double in the second as the Yellowjackets doubled up their lead in the inning. Three walks, a bases-loaded wild pitch, and a three-run home run by Armstrong helped UW-Superior extend the lead out to eight in the bottom of the fourth before Pehrson closed out the victory in the top of the next inning.

UW-Superior 11, North Central 2 (five innings)
The Yellowjackets honored their three seniors between games: utility fielder Shelby Gerken (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo H.S.), right-hander Sarah Hendrickson (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld H.S.), and outfielder Traci Popple (Jim Falls, Wis./Cornell H.S.), and each found their way into the starting line-up as UW-Superior scored in every inning. Popple finished 1-for-3 with an RBI while Gerken went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, driving in three. Hendrickson picked up the victory in the circle, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits while striking out two in a complete game effort. Five Yellowjackets had multiple hits in just four innings of at-bats and each of the UWS starters had at least one hit. Five different players had at least a double in the game. UW-Superior scored five in the first while batting around in the inning, adding one in the second, two in the third, and three in the fourth. North Central had back-to-back hits leading off the fourth but made good on a Yellowjacket error and scored on a caught-stealing attempt at second base later in the inning to scrape across the Rams' two runs.

UP NEXT
UW-Superior will compete at the UMAC Tournament next week in Duluth, Minnesota. Stay tuned to uwsyellowjackets.com and social media for bracket details.