UW-Whitewater finally got their games in with UW-La Crosse, originally set for Saturday, but may have wished that they hadn't.  UW-L, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leader ranked eighteenth nationally, defeated UW-W 3-0, and 7-6 in eight innings.

Game One:  UW-La Crosse 7, UW-Whitewater 6 in eight innings
box score

UW-L got on the board first, in the first.  Leftfielder Rachel Weyer doubled, then had to hold at third  on a double by shortstop Rachel Ahnen.  Weyer came in on a two out ground out.

The Eagles also tallied one run in the second.  Two singles, a fielder's choice and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, and Weyer came through again with a single that never made it out of the infield.  

La Crosse made it three straight innings with a single tally in the third on a Whitewater error, a sacrifice bunt, a single to left and another ground ball RBI.

UW-W got its first runner on in the fourth on a single by right fielder Shauna Binsfeld (Cedarburg/Grafton).  She advanced to second but did not score.  The Warhawks did not get another hit until Binsfeld opened the seventh with a single.

UW-L's Heather Schultz tossed the two-hitter to raise her mark to 16-2.  She walked none and struck out five.  Whitewater's Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka), 9-5, allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out one.  Weyer and Ahnen had two hits apiece for UW-L.

Game Two:  UW-La Crosse 3, UW-Whitewater 0
box score

La Crosse again took the lead, scoring once in the bottom of the first on a double by DH Katie Keyes.

Third baseman Laura Rankins got the run back for Whitewater with her RBI double in the top of the second.

Serve La Crosse.  Catcher Katie Pietrowiak hit her third home run of the season to put UW-L up 2-1 after two.

Whitewater responded with the biggest inning of the day, pushing four runs across in the top of the third.  A walk, a single and another single preceded a grand slam by left fielder Lauren Cruz (Des Plaines, IL/Maine West), her eighth round-tripper of the season.  Cruz leads UW-W in home runs and runs batted in (33).  Whitewater led 5-2 in the middle of the third.

As they did in the first game, La Crosse scored a single run in the first three innings.  This time a leadoff single moved two bases on a sacrifice bunt, then came home on another sacrifice bunt.  

La Crosse tied the game at 5-5 with two in the fourth.  Center fielder Lauren Schaller socked a two run home run to knot the game.

Warhawk catcher Emily Epifanio (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) put her team back in front with here fifth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.  

The Eagles knotted it back up with small ball in the fifth, combining a single, sacrifice, fielder's choice and second baseman Natalie Stoll's RBI single to tie the game at 6-6 after five.

Neither team scored in the sixth of seventh, forcing extra innings.  A leadoff single was followed by another single, and then both advanced a base on a passed ball.  Ahnen came through with a two out infield single to plate the winning run.  

Schultz, 17-2, and Stang, 9-6, were the ptichers of record again, this time both coming on in relief.  Ahnen went 4x4 for the Eagles, and center fielder Sara Fisher (Greenfield/Greenfield), Rankins and Epifanio had two hits each for UW-W.

MIsc.
UW-Whitewater is 20-12 overall and 6-6 in the WIAC.  UW-La Crosse improves to 28-6, 12-0 in league play.  

Whitewater will play at Illinois Wesleyan University Wednesday, then return home to host Lawrence University at 3:00 Thursday.  UW-W's van Steenderen Field is west of Perkins Stadium, north of Williams Center on the UW-W campus.  Free parking is available in the Perkins Stadium lot.

For additional information:  Brenda Volk, UW-W coach