Game 1     Game 2

The long journey back to .500 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference is complete. After a 1-5 start in league play, the UW-Parkside softball team is now 6-6 in conference after a 7-1, 9-8 sweep of Missouri-St. Louis at UWP Saturday afternoon. The squad is 15-11 overall.

Missouri-St. Louis, the defending conference champion, is now 18-12 overall and 8-6 in league play.

In Saturday's opener, Kallie Walczak was the winning pitcher. She is now 4-4 after tossing a two-hitter. She struck out a whopping 17 batters, while walking only two.

At the plate, the Rangers scored three runs in both the first and third innings and tacked on with one in the sixth. Krista Kelly had two of the Rangers' seven hits, along with two RBI. Alyssa Wilson doubled in two runs in the third and had another RBI in the first.

The second game saw a big Ranger comeback. The team trailed, 8-4, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. With two out, the team still trailed by four when the rally began. Christine Holthus tripled to right center, chasing a pair. Nicki Ekstrom came through with a single to tie the game.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Holthus doubled to center with two out. She scored on another clutch single by Ekstrom, terminating the contest.

Jill Vondrak was the winning pitcher in relief of Jessica Bryant. Vondrak went the final seven innings, giving up two earned runs.

The Rangers look to get on the positive side of the .500 mark in the league when it hosts Southern Indiana in a twinbill Sunday beginning at noon.