By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD — The top four batters in Marshfield’s lineup combined for six hits and scored all six runs as the Tigers blanked Wausau West 6-0 in a Wisconsin Valley Conference softball game Thursday at the Marshfield Fairgounds.

Freshman Megan Donahue allowed just four hits, struck out a season-high 14, and did not walk a batter to earn the win for the Tigers, who won their third-straight game and improve to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. West is now 2-11 and 0-7 in the WVC.

Freshman catcher Emily Draeger was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and scored three times out of the leadoff spot in the order for Marshfield. Another freshman, Morgan Nordbeck, added an RBI triple and scored twice, Donahue had a hit and two RBIs, and junior Lexi Dupee had a hit and a run scored for the Tigers.

“I told them my goal this week was to go 3-0 with the teams we were playing,” Marshfield coach Mike Voss said. “It was important to finish strong after going 2-0 earlier in the week (with wins over Medford and Wausau East), and we did it. Playing them earlier in the year we knew we hit well against them. We had 10 hits that first time and 10 again tonight.”

Marshfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first when Draeger led off with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. Nordbeck walked, and Donahue followed with an RBI groundout. Nordbeck later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Draeger doubled and later scored on an error in the third to make it 3-0, and the Tigers scored their final three runs in the fifth inning. Nordbeck tripled home Draeger, who had walked, Donahue had an RBI single, and Lexi Dupee singled and scored on a single by Mary Kloos.

Seven different players had at least one hit for Marshfield, which had 10 in all.

“Megan was tough on the mound,” Voss said. “That always helps when you have a pitcher that is striking out girls left and right. Sometimes it’s hard to play defense behind that because you are expecting strikeouts and all of a sudden they make contact, but I thought when they did hit the ball we made the plays, and we didn’t commit the errors that we have a tendency to do sometimes.”

Marshfield hosts Merrill at 4:30 p.m. Monday in a WVC game at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Tigers 6, Warriors 0

Wausau West 000 000 0 – 0 4 2

Marshfield 201 030 x – 6 10 0

WP: Megan Donahue. LP: Helena Winterhoff.

SO: Winterhoff 3; Donahue 14. BB: Winterhoff 2; Donahue 0.

Top hitters: WW, Taylor Treu 2×3, 2B; Sam Brown 2B. M, Emily Draeger 3×3, 2 2Bs, 3 runs; Morgan Nordbeck 3B, 2 runs, RBI; Megan Donahue 2 RBIs; Mary Kloos 2×3, RBI.

Records: Wausau West 2-11, 0-7 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 6-4, 3-3 WVC.