UW-Whitewater, the number one seed, defeated UW-Eau Claire, the number three seed, 4-2 in the second round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in Superior Friday afternoon. UW-Whitewater, which lost to UW-Superior in the first round of the double elimination tourney earlier Friday, will face UW-Oshkosh Saturday at 11:00, with the winner advancing to play later Saturday and the loser eliminated. UW-Eau Claire, which lost to UW-River Falls in the first round, was eliminated with the loss to UW-W.
Eau Claire game box score
Whitewater's Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) and Eau Claire's Bri Sturm kept the offenses at bay through the first three innings. Stang did not give up hit and Sturm just two in that span.
UW-W broke through in the fourth, with Kate McDonnell (Aurora, IL/West Aurora) bringing home the first run with a two out double and Nicole Bothun (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson) plating the Warhawks second with a single. The Blugolds put together three hits in each of the next two innings, scoring once in each, to knot the score 2-2 going in to the Whitewater half of the sixth. Amanda LeBeau (Worth, IL/Richards) led off the Warhawk sixth with her fifth home run of the season for the game winning tally. Two outs later McDonnell hit her second home run of the season for the final run of the game.
The two home runs tie the 2009 edition of the Warhawks with the 2007 team for second place in the team season record book with 37 home runs.
Stang went the distance, giving up eight hits, striking out eight and walking two. The earned run given up by Stang in the fifth broke a string of 27 innings over five appearances without allowing an earned run. Stang raised her record to 18-1.
Suzanne Gersich (Wadsworth, IL/Warren) joined LeBeau and McDonnell with two hits each for UW-W, accounting for six of the team's seven hits.
UW-Whitewater which won the WIAC championship this season with a 16-0 mark, is 35-4. The Warhawks are ranked fourth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III poll. UW-Eau Claire is 27-14. The game was a re-match of the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship game. UW-W won the regular season doubleheader, played in Whitewater April 24, 4-0 and 2-0.
The winner of the WIAC Tournament earns the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship Tournament, which begins regional play May 8.
For additional information: Brenda Volk, UW-W coach
