STEVENS POINT, Wis. – It took a while, but the Yellowjacket softball team finally got to play again.

With a winter that refuses to let go of northern Wisconsin, the Yellowjackets have been unable to take the field in nearly a month. The last time they played was in the sunny climes of Florida.

Friday, the Yellowjackets played their first "home" game of the season, only they had to travel about four hours south, to Stevens Point, to do it. Snow covering the field at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex meant the Yellowjackets, if they were going to play, were going to have to go south to make it happen.
 
Zenoff Park in Stevens Point was the site, as the Yellowjackets took on Martin Luther in their first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) games of the year.

And if you are going to travel that far to play, you might as well win.

The Yellowjackets rolled to a 12-4 win in the first game of the day Friday, before completing the sweep with an 8-2 win, improving to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in the UMAC.
 
Tayler Kraemer (Spring Green, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) earned both wins on the day, going the distance in the opener before coming on in relief to pitch the final five innings in the second game, improving to 8-3 on the year.

Game One
The Yellowjackets put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the first, opening the scoring with a pair of runs. Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) drove in the game's first run, scoring Tiffany Kirk (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) with a single to left field. Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) followed with her own single to left, plating Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson).
 
In the bottom of the third the Yellowjackets blew the game open, sending 14 hitters to the plate and scoring nine runs. With one out Thomson doubled to right center to put two runners in scoring position, and Hoops brought them both home with a double down the line in left. Later, again with two runners in scoring position, Bryton Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) singled a run home to make it 5-0.
 
Later in the inning and up six, the Yellowjackets loaded the bases with two outs and continued to pour it on. Kraemer singled up the middle to plate a run, and Kirk followed with a two-run single to left to make it a 9-0 game. After a double-steal made it 10-0, Thomson brought home the 11th run of the game with a single through the right side.

Martin Luther came alive in the fourth, scoring four times to cut into the Yellowjacket lead, 11-4.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Yellowjackets closed the game out when Thomson hit a long home run over the fence in left center field, making the final 12-4.
 
The Yellowjackets had 13 hits in the game, led by Thomson who went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two driven in. Kirk, Hoops and Macal also delivered two hits each.
 
Kraemer allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits to go along with eight strikeouts.
 
Game Two
Martin Luther came out firing in the second game, scoring in the top of the first to take the early lead.
 
The Yellowjackets came back in the bottom of the second, however, to take the lead for good. A pair of errors put the first two runners on, and two hitters later MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) cleared the bases, hitting her first home run of the year over the fence in center, making it 3-1.
 
Martin Luther pulled to within a run, 3-2, in the top of the third, but it was all Yellowjackets from there.
 
The Yellowjackets added their fourth run in the bottom of the fourth when Kirk was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Leccia drove in her fourth run of the game with a single down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth, making it 5-2. Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) followed with a double to left center, pushing the lead to 6-2.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring when Hoops launched a long home run to left center, making the final score 8-2.
 
The Yellowjackets had eight hits, with Snyder, Kraemer and Leccia each registering two apiece. Leccia scored twice and drove in four.
 
Emma Pillion (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) started in the circle for the Yellowjackets and allowed two runs on two hits in three innings. She walked one and struck out four before giving way to Kraemer, who pitched the final four innings, allowing two hits and striking out six.

The Yellowjackets are scheduled to return to action Tuesday, April 11 when they host North Central. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.