DULUTH, Minn. – Sophomore shortstop
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) went 4-for-5 with a double, triple and stolen base at the top of the UW-Superior softball team's order, igniting a 15-hit attack, as the Yellowjackets defeated Northland, 7-2, in the opening game of UMAC tournament at Kenwood Field Thursday morning.
UWS scored in all but two innings and used
Tayler Kraemer's (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) 12th complete-game of the season in the circle to advance. With the win, the 'Jackets (18-13) will to play top seed and tournament-host St. Scholastica later Thursday at 2 p.m.
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) outdueled Northland right-hander Sofia Garcia (10-9), allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out eight to improve to 11-7. Superior got to Garcia – who tossed a four-hit shutout against the Yellowjackets April 28 – for 15 hits and six earned.
The top of the Yellowjackets' lineup of
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights),
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) and center fielder
Olivia Bancroft-Hart (Cambria, Wis./Cambria-Friesland) accounted for nine hits, four runs scored and two driven in.
Kaela Kraemer's (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) four hits matched a career high while her four runs set another.
UWS scored first as
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) led off the game with a single to center and stole second. Her sister followed with a single up the middle and stole second. Next up, Bancroft-Hart laid down a bunt single that scored
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights).
UWS made it 2-0 in the third.
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) singled through the left side with one out with her sister then reaching on the fielder's choice. Bancroft-Hart put down another bunt and Northland third baseman Markia Smith pivoted and overthrew the shortstop covering the bag, allowing Kraemer to score.
The LumberJills got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning with an unearned run, but Superior got it back in the fifth as
Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) hit an RBI single through the left side with two out for a 3-1 lead.
Superior tacked on three runs on five hits and a Northland error in the sixth for separation.
Jessica Jacobson (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door) doubled to left to start inning. With two gone, Kailegh Miller singled down the left-field line and scored on a throwing error by Kaylee Harnack at shortstop that also allowed Jacobson to come around, making it 5-1.
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) kept the two-out rally going with a triple to center and her sister helped herself, following with an RBI single for a five-run advantage.
Marley Burd (Glendale, Ariz./Centennial) lined an RBI double down the left-field line with one out in the seventh that plated
Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown), who had singled, to extend the lead to 7-1.
Northland's Saylor Donnelly hit an run-scoring single of her own in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) got Elizabeth Peters out swinging for the second out, and after a Remi Orr single, induced Kayla Preisler to tap back to her to end the game.
Eight different players recorded hits for the Yellowjackets with four collecting at least two.
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and steal while Bancroft-Hart was 2-for-3 with an RBI and sacrifice. Kukowski also finished with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a double and run.
