ST. PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The UW-Superior softball team rolled to a pair of five-inning wins on the first day of the 2022 UMAC Crossover, beating Minnesota Morris, 15-1, and Crown, 13-1, at Reynolds Field and Xcel Field Park on Friday.
 
The Yellowjackets improve to 24-6 overall and 11-1 in the league. With the victories, UWS surpasses its 2021 win total of 22.
 
Superior was dominant in the circle for the second consecutive day following a pair of no-hitters on Wednesday against North Central. Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights), Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) and Allison Luoma (Iron River, Wis./Northwestern) limited the Cougars and Storm to just three hits while striking out six.
 
As a team, UWS batted .509 (28-for-55) with six extra-base hits, including five doubles and a triple. Freshman second baseman Lily Hanson (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) paced the offense, going 5-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and two driven in.
 
Game 1 -- UW-Superior 15, Minnesota Morris 1 (five innings)
UWS scored in every inning against Minnesota Morris, breaking it open with an eight-run top of the fourth for a 14-1 advantage. The 'Jackets also plated two runs in the first, one in the second, three in the third and one in the fifth.
 
Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) gave Superior the first-inning lead with an RBI single to score Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights), who singled to left and stole second. Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) was thrown out at third on Thomson's base hit for the second out, but with Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) batting, Thomson came home on a pair of wild pitches from UMM's Adrianna Johnson for a 2-0 lead.
 
Jessica Jacobson (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door) lined a one-out single to center field, scoring Norah Schmitz (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) and Erika Mattson (Ely, Minn./Ely Memorial) to extend the lead to 5-1. Hanson then doubled to the gap in right-center field, scoring Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) to make it 6-1.
 
Johnson (0-2) was relieved to begin the fourth by Abby Wothe, who faced seven batters without recording an out. She surrendered four hits and seven runs (three earned) and a walk. 
 
Thomson hit a two-run single, Jacobson coaxed a bases-loaded walk and Kukowski roped a run-scoring single to center off of Wothe to stretch the lead to 10-1. Grace Penke struck out the first two she faced before Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) hit an RBI single and Kirk followed with a three-run triple to left center.
 
Freshman Andrea Schumacher (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead Union) closed the scoring in the fifth with an RBI groundout to shortstop.
 
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) moved to 14-4 on the season in the circle allowing one hit and one run in the first three innings. She fanned two and walked three. Pillion tossed two perfect innings to nail down the victory, getting five fly-ball outs.
 
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) was 4-for-4 with three runs and a stolen base while Thomson was 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Kirk, Kukowski and Hanson each also had two hits apiece.
 
Minnesota Morris fell to 9-17 and 6-7 in the UMAC with the loss.
 
Game 2 -- UW-Superior 13, Crown 1 (five innings)
Luoma was perfect through the first three innings against the Storm with a pair of strikeouts, while the 'Jackets put up 10 runs in that span to help erase the memory of dropping their first conference game of the year in St. Bonifacius, Minn., on Tuesday.
 
UWS scored multiple runs in each of its four turns at bat, with a five-run bottom of the second inning to go up, 8-0. Superior scored five more runs for the final margin.
 
Kirk's bases-clearing double to left in the 10-batter second frame gave the 'Jackets a 6-0 lead. Macal added an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch to give UWS an 8-0 edge. 
 
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) added an RBI single in the third, scoring Hanson, and Kirk collected another RBI with a run-scoring grounder to the left side of the infield.
 
Kaela Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) hit a two-out, two-run double to right in the fourth, stole third and scored on an error for the 12-run lead.
 
Luoma (8-2) picked up her eighth complete game of the season. She struck out four, yielding just two hits and one earned run.
 
Abbey Underdahl (2-6) was saddled with the loss in the circle, lasting just one inning.
 
Crown dropped to 5-11 overall and 3-5 in the UMAC in defeat.
 
The Yellowjackets face North Central and Northwestern Saturday at noon and 4 p.m., respectively.