SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UW-Superior softball team opened Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Crown, winning, 9-5, and 11-6 at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex Sunday.
 
The Yellowjackets pounded out 26 hits and received strong pitching performances from Ashley Taipale (Duluth, Minn./Denfield) and Damara Theis (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) in the circle. The victories improve the 'Jackets to 5-15 overall on the season, while Crown falls to 6-12.
 
Taipale (1-6) picked up her first victory of the season, throwing her sixth complete game. She allowed five earned runs on nine hits, though four of the runs came in the sixth and seventh innings. Taipale struck out eight and did not issue a walk.
 
Alayna Tulip (Arcadia, Wis./Arcadia) went 2-for-4 with a triple, three runs scored and two knocked in to lead the way offensively in game one. Davriana Horvath (Esko, Minn./Esko) also collected a pair of hits and RBIs.
 
Superior scored twice in the bottom of the first to take the lead. The 'Jackets sent eight batters to the plate in the inning. Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) led off with a single to center and was erased on a fielder's choice. Taipale was hit by a pitch, giving UWS runners on first and second with one out. After a pop up, a wild pitch moved both runners up a station. Gabby Gidley (Superior, Wis./Superior) walked to load the bases and Bobbijean Miller (Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis) followed with an infield single to shortstop that plated Tulip for a 1-0 lead.
 
Bailey Kinnunen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) then worked a five-pitch walk, forcing Taipale in for the second run of the inning.
 
Crown cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth inning. With one out and a runner on first, Samantha Collins doubled to right-center field and Olivia Dols grounded to the right side of the infield, scoring Liz Kemp, who began the inning with a single.
 
The 'Jackets tacked on two in the fifth on a Horvath RBI single with one out, after Tulip tripled to start the frame. Superior made it 4-1 as Gidley tripled with two outs and scored on a passed ball.
 
The Storm responded with two in the bottom of the fifth, but the 'Jackets put the game away in the sixth, plating five runs. The big blows in the inning came on a two-run single to center from Tulip, and an RBI base hit by Horvath, both after Maddie Noble relieved Olivia Christopherson (3-5) in the circle. Christopherson went five innings, surrendering six hits and eight runs.
 
Superior built a 6-1 advantage through three innings of the second game and held on for the win, while registering a season-high 18 hits. Theis earned the win, scattering seven hits and five runs over four innings. 
 
Kirk, Tulip and Kinnunen recorded three hits apiece while Kirk and Kinnunen drove in three runs each.
 
Crown pulled to within 7-6, scoring four runs in the top of the fifth inning, but UWS replied with three in its half and added one for good measure in the sixth for the final margin.
 
Superior next travels to face St. Scholastica at Kenwood Field Wednesday for a UMAC doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.