OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Yellowjacket women's softball team, picked to finish third in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference in 2023, got their season underway Saturday, competing at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational. With two games Saturday and two more Sunday, the Yellowjackets will get four games under their belts before embarking on their spring trip to Florida next week.
 
On the first day of action, the Yellowjackets went 1-1, defeating Wisconsin Lutheran 11-7 in the opener before falling to UW-Oshkosh 4-1.

Game One
In the opener against Wisconsin Lutheran, the Yellowjackets scored first and rode a big fifth inning to an 11-7 win in the opener. Senior Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) paced the Yellowjacket offense, going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in.
 
After two scoreless innings the Yellowjackets broke through in the bottom of the third to open the scoring. Norah Schmitz (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) led off with a walk and advanced all the way to third on a fielding error. She and Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) both scored on another error to put the 'Jackets in front. With two outs, Kirk singled home Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) and it was 3-0.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning, and then moved in front 5-3 with a three-run fifth.
 
In the bottom half of the fifth the Yellowjackets blew the game open to take the lead for good. They pulled to within one on a bases-loaded single from Kirk and tied the game 5-5 on an Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) single. Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) broke the tie with a two-run single to center, and Macal later came around to score on single by Cassie Bergman (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East).
 
Up three, the 'Jackets extended the lead to 10-5 when Schmitz singled to center, plating two more runs. Schmitz would score the final run of the inning when Kraemer hit into a fielder's choice, making it 11-5 after five.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran scored two more in the sixth and had a threat going, but the Yellowjackets worked out of the jam to preserve the lead, before closing things out with a clean seventh.
 
Eight different Yellowjackets accounted for the team's nine hits in the game. Kraemer had three runs batted in, while Kukowski and Schmitz had two RBI apiece.
 
Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) got the start in the circle for the Yellowjackets and earned the win to start the season 1-0. She allowed two earned runs on four hits over five innings. She walked three and struck out two. Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) pitched the final inning, allowing three earned runs on three hits.
 
Game Two
A year ago, the Yellowjackets put opponents on notice early in the year with a win over nationally-ranked Oshkosh in this same event. The Titans apparently had long memories, as they didn't give the Yellowjackets much in the second game of the day.
 
The Yellowjackets started the scoring in the top of the second inning, stringing a pair of two out hits together to plate a run. Kukowski fouled off four pitches before tripling to right. She would score on a double by Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) to make it 1-0.

That was the end of the scoring for the Yellowjackets.
 
Oshkosh drew even in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, bases-loaded walk. The Yellowjackets went down in order in the sixth and Oshkosh pounced, scoring three times in the bottom of the inning to pull in front 4-1.
 
The Yellowjackets had five hits in the game, with Kirk, Kukowski, Hoops, MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) and Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) all registering one hit each.
 
Kraemer, in a homecoming of sorts, having grown up just down the road from Oshkosh, got the start in the circle and went the distance. She allowed four runs (one earned) on seven hits. She walked six while striking out three.
 
The Yellowjackets will be back in action Sunday for the second day of the UW-Oshkosh Invitational. They will play Lawrence University at 10 a.m. and UW-Oshkosh in the second game at 2 p.m.