NAPLES, Fla. – It seems only fitting that, while the latest winter storm is pummeling the Twin Ports, the Yellowjacket softball team is taking to the diamond in sunny Florida. Less than 24 hours after departing Superior, the Yellowjackets were on the field, playing their first two games of their spring trip.

And a week after the Yellowjackets split twice at Oshkosh, they earned their first sweep of 2023, taking down the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts 8-6 before completing the sweep over St. Joseph's of Brooklyn, 7-1.
 
With the wins, the Yellowjackets are now 4-2 to start the season.
 
Game One
MCLA didn't waste any time, jumping on Yellowjacket starter Georgia Youngblood (Ray, Mich./Lutheran North) to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Trailblazers extended their lead to 2-0 in the second.

It stayed that way until the Yellowjackets broke through in the bottom of the fifth.
 
MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) was hit by a pitch and Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) followed with a single. Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) singled to load the bases and Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) singled to center to plate Leccia and get the Yellowjackets on the board. A second run scored on a sacrifice fly, and Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) backed that up with a single to give the Yellowjackets their first lead of the game, 3-2.
 
Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) delivered a pinch-hit single that scored two runs to stretch the Yellowjacket lead to 5-2, but MCLA answered in the next half inning.
 
A leadoff double and another hitter reaching spelled the end of the game for Youngblood. Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) came on and pitched to two hitters without retiring a hitter, giving way to Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township), who helped restore order. The damage was done, however, as MCLA scored four times to move back in front, 6-5.
 
In the bottom of the sixth Kraemer led off with a single and quickly advanced on a passed ball. Kirk then singled to put runners on the corners. To hitters later Macal singled home Kraemer to tie the game. An MCLA error put the Yellowjackets in front 7-6, and a groundout gave the Yellowjackets an 8-6 lead heading to the seventh.
 
Pillion retired the Trailblazers in order, preserving the victory, the first of her collegiate career. She allowed just one hit over two innings and struck out a pair.
 
The Yellowjackets had 11 hits, led by Kraemer who went 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Snyder, Kirk and Macal all had two hits apiece.
 
Game Two
Kraemer paced the Yellowjackets offensively in the Florida opener, in game two, she did the bulk of her damage in the circle. She did contribute offensively, picking up a pair of hits, but on the rubber she completely shut down St. Joseph's of Brooklyn in a 7-1 Yellowjacket rout.
 
Making her third start of the season, Kraemer pitched the complete game to improve her record to 2-1 on the year. She allowed just one unearned run while scattering six hits. She walked four and struck out six. For the year, her earned-run average is a miniscule 0.78.
The Yellowjackets scored the game's first run in the top of the first when Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) singled up the middle to bring home Kraemer.
 
It stayed 1-0 until the Yellowjackets extended the lead in the top of the fourth. Leccia singled up the middle with one out and came around on a groundout later in the inning.
 
St. Joseph's scored its lone run in the bottom of the fourth, and the Yellowjackets got that run back and then some in the fifth.
 
A bases-loaded wild pitch made it 3-1, and two hitters later another wild pitch made the score 4-1. Carissa Bergman singled home Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) to extend the lead to 5-1.

In the top of the seventh, the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring, getting RBI-singles from Leccia and Kraemer to make the final 7-1.
 
Thomson, Macal and Leccia had three hits each to lead the 16-hit attack for the Yellowjackets. Hoops was 2-for-2 and had a pair of walks and runs scored.
 
The Yellowjackets are back on the field Sunday when they play two more games. They will take on Westfield State out of Massachusetts beginning at noon CDT before playing St. Joseph's of Brooklyn for the second time in as many days at 2 p.m. CDT.