MAPLE GROVE, Minn. – The Yellowjacket softball team, fresh off a tight 7-5 win over Crown College Friday, was back on the diamond Saturday looking to keep their perfect record in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play intact, as they took on Crown in two more contests Saturday afternoon.
 
And keep the record intact they did. Emphatically.
 
In Saturday's opener, the Yellowjackets made it a laugher early, scoring 11 times in the first on the way to a 24-3, five-inning win. The second game was a little tighter, but Yellowjackets still rolled, defeating the Polars 10-2 to complete the sweep.
 
The Yellowjackets have now won nine straight and sit at 18-4 overall and 6-0 in UMAC play.
 
MyKenzie Leccia (Somerset, Wis./Somerset) had a big game in the opener, going 4-for-5 at the plate, helping the Yellowjackets to a season-high 24 hits in the game. Leccia scored three times and drove in a run. In the second game Ellie Macal (Winona, Minn./Cotter) and Carly Stuckmayer (Delano, Minn./Delano) led the way with three hits each.
 
Game One Notes

• The Yellowjackets scored runs in every inning.
• 13 Yellowjackets had at least one hit in the game, with eight players
• Leccia's four hits led the Yellowjackets, who also got three hits from Peyton Bennett (Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg). Eight Yellowjackets had a multi-hit game.
• Bennett and Lily Hanson (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) had back-to-back triples to start the game. Each came in to score.
• Samantha Swartz (Antigo, Wis./Antigo), Karen Balabon (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and Bennett each had two-run hits in the first inning.
• Swartz drove in another run in the second, plating Leccia who led off the frame with a double.
• Stuckmayer doubled in a run in the two-run third.
• The Yellowjackets scored three more runs in the fourth. Hanson drove in two with a single and later in the inning McKenzie Bird scored on a triple by Kendallyn Kalenberg (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson).
• Crown scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the fourth.
• In the top of the fifth the Yellowjackets got those runs back and then some, scoring six more times.
• Norah Schmitz (Carver County, Minn./Waconia) drove in a run with a single. Megan Witt (Burnsville, Minn./Eagan) drove in two more runs later in the inning with a double. Kalenberg drove in another run on a ground out, and Leccia completed the scoring, bringing home Witt with a double, making the final score 24-3.
• Hanson and Swartz each drove in three runs.
• Six different Yellowjackets – Bennett, Hanson, Witt, Balabon, Kalenberg and Swartz drove in multiple runs.
• Abby Mitchell (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) made just her second appearance of the season, getting the start in the circle. She scattered two hits to go along with a walk over three innings. She struck out four on the way to her first collegiate win.
• Georgia Youngblood (Ray, Mich./Lutheran North) pitched the final two innings, allowing three runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Game Two Notes

• After a scoreless first the Yellowjackets blew the game open in the second, plating four runs.
• Macal delivered the big hit in the first, doubling in two runs.
• Balabon singled home Stuckmayer in the third, increasing the Yellowjacket lead to 5-0.
• In the three-run fourth, Macal tripled home Zoe Thomson (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) and Baylee O'Donnell (Mendota Hights, Minn./Richfield) followed with a single scoring Macal. Swartz later drove in Stuckmayer.
• The Yellowjackets added two more runs in the sixth, scoring twice when Swartz reached on an error.
• In addition to her three hits, Macal scored a run and drove in three.
• Stuckmayer scored four runs in the game.
• Bella Garley (Albuquerque, N.M./Porter (Tex.)) started in the circle and pitched four innings, allowing two runs on three hits. She walked one and struck out three, improving to 9-4 on the year.
• Mitchell pitched the final two innings.

The Yellowjackets will be back on the road Tuesday, as they take on UW-Stout in a non-conference doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Alumni Field in Menomonie.
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