To remain in contention for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament title, the UW-Whitewater women's softball could not lose a game on Sunday. The Warhawks split on day one of the double-elimination conference tournament by defeating UW-Superior but losing to UW-River. Day two produced a similar result as the Warhawks were able to come back to defeat UW-Platteville 6-5 in their first game but lost to UW-Eau Claire 4-1. The win on Saturday propelled UW-W to a thirty-win season; however the second loss eliminated them from the WIAC tournament and the right to earn the automatic qualification into the NCAA tournament. UW-Whitewater's postseason site
Box Score vs. UW-Platteville
Box Score vs. UW-Eau Claire
In the first game on Sunday the Warhawks went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI double by Lauren Cruz that scored Suzanne Gersich. Platteville answered with two runs in the top of the second to pull ahead.
Whitewater tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when Alli Driscoll drove in Carly Solberg on a double to right field. The Pioneers broke the tie in the top of the fifth by notching three runs on a Dru Schneider home run.
The Warhawks battled back and scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, sixth and seventh to force the game into extra innings. A home run by Gersich in the bottom of the seventh with no outs was enough to push the game to the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth Driscoll scored the game-winning run on a Gersich hit.
Jessica Stang came on in relief of Nikole Schulty to record the victory for UW-W. Stang struck out six while giving up only one hit in three innings. Maggie Medlicott tallied the loss for the Pioneers.
To avoid elimination the Warhawks had to beat UW-Eau Claire in their second game of the day. The Blugolds won the conference tournament in 2007 and 2008.
Eau Claire had the power of the bat on their side on Sunday as they scored all four of their runs on home runs. Eau Claire scored first in the top of the second on a Kristi Doucette solo home run. The Blugolds recorded two more in the top of the fifth on a two-run homerun by Casey Leisgang. Another solo home run by Michelle Butkus in the top of the sixth would cap the scoring for UW-Eau Claire.
Whitewater attempted to rally in the bottom of the seventh after scoring a run on an Amy Gahl double that scored Amy Azzi. However, one run was all they could muster and their WIAC tournament run ended.
Jessie Harmeyer (Muskego/Muskego) pitched three innings and took the loss for the Warhawks. Jenny Ross went the distance for UW-Eau Claire striking out five, giving up seven hits, and surrendering one run.
The Warhawks (30-8) await the announcement of at-large bids to the NCAA division III tournament which begins on May 8. The announcements are expected to be made early on Monday morning, May 5.
For additional information:
Brenda Volk, UW-W head coach, 262-472-1155
UW-W softball website
WIAC conference tournament website
