DUNDAS, Minn. – The Yellowjacket softball team opened their 2026 season with a pair of non-conference games in the Dundas Dome. In the opening game Carleton came out swinging, putting up three runs in the first and rolling to a 9-2 victory over the Yellowjackets. UWS would bounce back in the second game, taking down Macalester by a score of 7-4.  
 
Game One Notes 

• Megan Smith would open the scoring for Carleton with a leadoff double. Esme Song walked, then stole second while Smith scored from third.
• Jade Thach tripled to right field bringing in Grace Colburn and Song giving Carleton a 3-0 lead in the first. 

• Megan Smith singled to right field, bringing in Natasha Paez adding another run for Carleton starting the second. 

• Three more runs were scored in the bottom of the second inning, giving the Knights a 7-0 lead.
• The 'Jackets answered back as Karen Balabon (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) had an RBI scoring Maggie Gammell (Cottage Grove, Minn./East Ridge). Peyton Bennett (Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg) reached first on an error, bringing in Delaney Johnson (Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth) to make the score 7-2. 

• Carleton would score their ninth run in the bottom of the fourth inning and hold on for a 9-2 win.

 
Game Two Notes  

• The Yellowjackets struck first in the top of the second as Sophia Otto (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) singled to left field, bringing in Hanna Hovland (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld). Karen Balabon (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) singled through the left side of the infield, bringing in Otto to give the Yellowjackets a 2-0 lead.

• Macalester would answer back in the second as Alli Johnson singled to left, bringing in Dylan Tapia making the score 2-1. 

• The Yellowjackets broke the game open in the third inning, adding three runs off four hits to lead 5-1.

• Larissa Snyder (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) would add another run for the Yellowjackets with a single to left field bringing in Bennett, who doubled down the left field line to lead off the top of the fourth.  

• Tapia singled up the middle for Macalester, bringing in both Tess Bojorquez and Elizabeth Welch. Allison Dvorak logged an infield single scoring Tapia, shrinking the Yellowjackets' lead to 6-4.

• Bennett would end the scoring for the Yellowjackets with an RBI single to score Gammell, giving the Yellowjackets a 7-4 lead in the top of the seventh.

• Balabon, Bennett and Snyder all recorded three hits versus the Scots. Elizabeth Welch recorded three hits for Macalester.  
• Bethany Lewis (Antigo, Wis./Antigo) collected the first save of her Yellowjacket career off two innings of work.

 
The Yellowjackets are back in action Saturday, February 28 when they open play in the UW-Oshkosh Invitational. Their first game against St. Scholastica begins with a first pitch at 2 p.m.  Read Full Article