NEW ULM, Minn. – The wait hasn't seemed to have an effect on the Yellowjacket softball team.

Thursday, the Yellowjackets played their first game in two weeks, and their first since returning from their spring trip on Florida, and they showed little rust in a 22-0 rout of Martin Luther. Friday, the Yellowjackets and the Knights were back on the diamond, playing the second and third games of their weekend series, and again, it was all Yellowjackets.
 
The Yellowjackets completed the sweep of the three-game series, downing Martin Luther by identical 8-0 scores to sweep the doubleheader Friday.

With the wins, the Yellowjackets (15-4, 3-0 UMAC) extended their winning streak to six games.
 
Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) had another strong day at the plate for the Yellowjackets, going 4-for-4 in the sweep while scoring three runs and driving in four. Lily Hanson (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) also had a strong day, going 5-for-7. She scored four times and drove in three.
 
Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) started the opener and got the win, going the distance to improve to 7-0 on the year. In the second game, Bella Garley (Albuquerque, N.M./Porter (Tex.)) started in the circle and picked up the victory. Her record for the year now stands at 8-4.

Game One Notes

• The Yellowjackets scored twice in the top of the first inning, getting an RBI double from Macal to open the scoring. Macal then came home when Baylee O'Donnell (Mendota Hights, Minn./Richfield) doubled to left.
• Macal increased the lead in the third, playing Peyton Bennett (Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg) on a sacrifice fly.
• In the fifth Bennett singled to left, brining home Carly Stuckmayer (Delano, Minn./Delano) to increase the lead to 4-0. Bennett then came home with the fifth run of the game on another sacrifice fly by Macal.
• MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) came home with the sixth run of the game for the 'Jackets, scoring on Hanson's triple to right. Hanson then scored on a double by Stuckmayer.
• Leccia then produced an RBI groundout in the seventh to make the final 8-0.
• Yellowjackets had 13 hits in the game, six players finishing with two.
• Swartz allowed just five hits over seven innings. She walked two and struck out a season-high eight.

Game Two Notes

• For the second game in a row the Yellowjackets plated two runs in the top of the first, and again Macal got the scoring started. This time she tripled to left center, bringing home Hanson with the game's first run. Macal then scored on a single to left by O'Donnell.
• Bennett led off the third with a double and came in when Hanson doubled to left. O'Donnell later singled to center, bringing in Hanson to stretch the UWS lead to 4-0.
• The Yellowjackets tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Hanson scored on a single to left by Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson). Later in the inning pinch runner Camille Wikstrom (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) scored on a single by Macal.
• Hanna Hovland (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) reached base with a two-out single to right in the sixth. She would come around to score on a double to center by Bennett. Bennett then scored the final run of the game on a single to right by Hanson.
• Hanson finished the game with three hits to pace the 11-hit Yellowjacket attack. Bennett, Macal and O'Donnell also had two hits each.
• Macal has hits in five straight, and her batting average is .733 over that span. She was a perfect 8-for-8 in the series.
• Garley went the distance in the circle, scattering three hits over six innings. She struck out 10, establishing a new career high.

The Yellowjackets are back in action Wednesday, April 2 when they travel for a non-conference doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Bolllinger Field.
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