UW-Whitewater, ranked seventh and eleventh in the two national polls of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III teams, opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep at UW-Stout in Menomonie Friday, winning 12-0 and 15-6. UW-W, the 2008 WIAC champion, was named earlier this week as the league favorite for 2009.
box score, game one
box score, game two
Both games were shortened because of the run differential rule.
UW-W jumped out front early in game one, scoring seven times in the top of the first inning. Warhawk leadoff Amy Gahl (Beloit/Parkview) singled twice in the inning, the second one bringing in two runs. Liz Yucius contributed a RBI double in the frame, but the big hit was a three run homer to right center by Suzanne Gersich (Wadsworth, IL/Warren).
After UW-W's Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) struck out two of three Stout batters in the bottom of the first, the Warhawks came back to add five more runs in their second inning. Ashley Smith (Elgin, IL/St. Edward Catholic) pushed in the last two runs with a two out double.
That was the end of scoring in the game as Stang struck out eight, with no walks and just one hit, in four innings of work. Gahl led the Warhawk offense with a 3x3 game, scoring twice and driving in three. Lauren Cruz (Des Plaines, IL/Maine West), Lauren Rankins (Marengo, IL/Marengo), and Smith contributed two hits each to Whitewater's total of fourteen hits.
Whitewater used the same formula again in game two, scoring three runs in the top of the first. The Blue Devils answered with one in their half of the frame, Whitewater added another in the second, and both teams scored three in the third to make it 7-4 Whitewater.
The Warhawks decided the issue in the top of the fourth, making the most of six hits to score eight times. Gahl was in the middle of it again, hitting a three run homer. Tina Galuk (Lake in the Hills, IL/Crystal Lake South) drove in two with a single. Stout scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, but the 15-6 lead held up and the game ended after five innings.
Brittany LeBeau (Worth, IL/Richards) started and picked up her third win against one loss for the Warhawks. Stacy Bahr (Racine/Park) hurled two innings in relief. Gahl, again, stood out at the plate with a 2x3 game, three runs scored and the three RBI's. Smith went 3x4 as the 1-2 batters in the Warhawk lineup collectively batted 10x13 with eight runs scored and ten runs batted in.
UW-W is 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the WIAC. Stout is 10-10 and 0-2. The Warhawks will play at UW-River Falls Saturday, with the start time of that twinbill changed to 12:00. It had originally been set for 1:00, but the schools agreed to try to beat a weather system moving in.
UW-Whitewater will open the 2009 home season Tuesday at 3:00 against UW-Platteville. Prior to the doubleheader the renovated van Steenderen softball facility will be re-dedicated, beginning at approximately 2:45.
For additional information: Brenda Volk, UW-W coach
