Illinois Wesleyan and UW-Whitewater went down to the wire at the NCAA Division III softball regional in Bloomington, Illinois, but it was the host school that prevailed over UW-W by a score of 4-1.  The game was close throughout as neither team scored until the fourth inning and each team only had one run going into the seventh.  A three-run seventh by IWU was ultimately more than the Warhawks could overcome and it finished their season with a 38-7 record.  Illinois Wesleyan advances to day four of the regional as the only team not to lose at the regional.  Coe College will have to defeat them twice on Sunday to earn a trip to the championships otherwise IWU advances.  UW-Whitewater's NCAA Tournament site

box score

Illinois Wesleyan was first on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when Lisa Nartosky smacked a homer over the left centerfield fence.

A Suzanne Gersich (Wadsworth, IL/Warren) single to centerfield in the bottom of the sixth scored Nicole Bothun (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson) to tie the game at one.

Illinois Wesleyan then broke things open in the top of the seventh scoring three runs on three hits and two UW-Whitewater errors.

The Warhawks got the tying run into the batter's box in the bottom of the seventh, but IWU ace pitcher Christy Engel got the final batter to ground out.  Engel previously pitched a no-hitter in the regional.

Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) pitched the entire game for UW-W and struck out six.  Stang finishes the season with a 0.84 earned run average and a 21-3 overall record.

The Warhawks finish the year with a 38-7 overall record.  The Warhawks won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title going undefeated, 16-0. 

For additional information:
Brenda Volk, UW-W head coach