ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – Earlier in the week, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) directors of athletics met and made changes to the 2023 softball schedule, affecting the crossover events. For the Yellowjackets, opponents weren't affected, but game times and locations were.
 
The Yellowjackets played the first of their crossover events Friday, starting the event against the hosts from Crown College. After a short break, the Yellowjackets returned to the field to take on Minnesota Morris. And the Yellowjackets were clicking in all facets of the game on this day.
 
Against Crown, the Yellowjackets scored runs in every inning on the way to a 17-0 romp over the Polars. Later in the day, the Yellowjackets again posted a zero in the runs allowed column, defeating Morris 8-0. Neither game went the allotted seven innings.
 
With the wins, the Yellowjackets (16-4, 6-0 UMAC) have now won nine games in a row.
 
Game One
The Yellowjackets jumped on the Polars early, scoring three times in the top of the first inning on an RBI-double from Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights), a Crown error, and a sacrifice fly by Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter).
 
In the second the Yellowjackets blew the game wide open, sending 12 to the plate and scoring eight runs. With two on and one out, Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) tripled to bring home a pair of runs. Snyder scored the third run of the inning when Kraemer reached on an error. Later, with two runners in scoring position, Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) singled to bring home Kraemer. Macal followed with a double, plating Hoops and putting two more runners in scoring position.
 
Thomson came in to score on an RBI single from Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown), and Macal followed with another run when Cassie Bergman (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) grounded out. Kukowski would later score the final run of the inning, and Kraemer went back to the circle with the Yellowjackets up 11-0.
 
In the top of the third Thomson got the scoring started, bringing home Snyder with a double. Macal followed with an RBI groundout, and the 'Jackets were in front 13-0. The Yellowjackets got back-to-back RBI singles from Kraemer and Hoops in the top of the fourth to extend the lead further. They closed out the scoring in the top of the fifth, getting a run on a Kendallyn Kalenberg (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) sacrifice fly and a double from MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset), making the final score 17-0.
 
The Yellowjackets had 15 hits in the game, led by Snyder, Kraemer and Thomson who had two apiece. Macal, Snyder and Thomson all had multi-RBI games.
 
Kraemer got the start and pitched three hitless innings, striking out three. She got the win, improving to 9-3 for the year. Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) pitched the final two innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out three.
 
Game Two
In the second game Kraemer again had the right stuff in the circle, shutting down the Morris bats to the tune of just five hits. She went to distance to earn her second win of the day and 10th on the season. She walked three and struck out five.
 
At the plate, the Yellowjackets got things started in the bottom of the second. Kukowski led off with a single and went to second on a groundout. She would score the game's first run on a single by Leccia. After stealing second, Leccia came in to score on a double from Snyder. Snyder came across with the third run on a single from Kraemer. Kraemer then stole second and scored on Hoops' double to make it a 4-0 game.
 
Hoops drove in another run with a single in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Leccia.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Yellowjackets scored three times to end the game on the mercy rule. Thomson had the big hit of the inning, singling with the bases loaded to bring home two runs. Then, Hoops ended it when Macal reached on an error, scoring the final run in the 8-0 win.
 
Leccia had a big second game for the Yellowjackets, going 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in a run. Snyder, Kraemer, Hoops and Kukowski finished the game with two hits apiece. The Yellowjackets had 13 hits in the game.
 
The Yellowjackets will now shift to St. Paul, Minn. and play Saturday's games at the University of Northwestern's Reynolds Field. The Yellowjackets will play Northwestern at 10 a.m. and North Central at 2 p.m.