SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket softball team came into play this weekend as one of the top offensive teams in NCAA Division III. Batting .418 before Friday's sweep of Minnesota Morris, the Yellowjackets had the third-highest batting average in the country. They were tied for sixth in the nation with 330 hits and led the nation by scoring 10.26 runs per game, putting them half a run better than the second-best scoring team.
 
After a big offensive day Friday, one that saw the Yellowjackets score 20 runs and hammer out 26 hits, the Yellowjackets again had their offense show up in a big way Saturday morning, scoring nine times on 12 hits on the way to a 9-1 win over Minnesota Morris, completing the weekend sweep in a snappy 75 minutes at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
The win extends the win streak to six games for the Yellowjackets, who are now 25-5 overall and a perfect 12-0 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), where they in first place, one game ahead of Bethany Lutheran and two games ahead of Northwestern, their next opponent on the conference schedule.
 
After going 6-for-6 with two home runs, five runs batted in and four runs scored Friday, Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) continued her stellar play at the plate. Macal was 2-for-2 Saturday with a run scored and a run batted in. For the year, Macal is batting an astounding .544 with five home runs and 35 runs batted in. She leads the Yellowjackets in all categories.
 
Karen Balabon (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) also had a big game for the 'Jackets Saturday, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three driven in. She also scored the run that finished off the Cougars in the fifth Saturday.
 
Game Notes

• Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) had a two-out double in the bottom of the first and came in to score on Macal's infield single.
• Morris plated its only run of the day on a wild pitch in the top of the second.
• The Yellowjackets got the run back in the bottom of the second when Balabon doubled to left center, scoring MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset).
• In the third Thomson scored her second run of the game, coming in on a sacrifice fly.
• Balabon came in to score on a Peyton Bennett (Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg) infield single in the bottom of the fourth, stretching the Yellowjacket lead to 4-1.
• UWS put the game away in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five times.
• With nobody out and the bases loaded, Leccia drove in a run and a second came in on an error.
• Two more runs came in when Balabon hit her third double of the day, this time down the left field line.
• Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park), who missed the first 27 games of the season due to injury, ended the game with a sharp single to left, scoring Balabon.
• Balabon, Macal and Thomson combined for nine of the 12 Yellowjacket hits.
• Abby Mitchell (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) started in the circle and worked into the second inning before being relieved by Bella Garley (Albuquerque, N.M./Porter (Tex.)). Garley would get the win, pitching four scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. She is now 11-4 on the year.

Next up for the Yellowjackets is a non-conference doubleheader on the road at UW-Eau Claire Wednesday, April 23. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Bollinger Field.
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