Jessica Stang (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) fired her second no-hitter of the season in a 13-0 game one victory, and the 'Hawks came from behind to win game two 8-6 over Lawrence University on Thursday in Whitewater. Stang had a near perfect game except for one walk in the fifth inning.  Game one was shortened to five innings due to the eight-run differential rule.  UW-W improves to 23-13 this season and Lawrence falls to 15-15.

Game one box score
Game two box score
Photo gallery

Until now no Warhawk pitcher has ever thrown two no-hitters in one season.  Stang's first no-hitter came back on April 22 in a 9-0 victory over the University of Dubuque.  Only one other Warhawk hurler has thrown two in their career and that was Mary Haugen who threw her first in 1983 and her second in 1986.  There have been two occassions where two different pitchers threw no-hitters in the same season.  The first was in 1992 when Shelly Poor and Kris Zamzow threw no-hitters in back-to-back games on the same day.  The second was in 1996 when Terri Bierbaum and Sheila Lissman completed the feat.

Game one fell in favor of the 'Hawks in the second inning when a bunt by Jordyn Gaza (Mundelein, IL/Carmel Catholic) plated one and a grounder by Shauna Binsfeld (Cedarburg/Grafton) scored another.  The 'Hawks padded their lead with another run in the bottom the third on a solo homer by Lauren Cruz (Des Plaines, IL/Maine West).

Things erupted in the bottom of the fourth as the Warhawks scored ten runs.  Emily Epifanio (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) drove in the first two runs on a double to left center.  A Kate McDonnell (Aurora, IL/West Aurora) single drove in two more and a Megan Smith (Elgin, IL/St. Edward Catholic) triple added three to the lead.  Two more runs were scored on singles and the final run on a ground out to push the lead to 13-0.

Stang, now 11-6, struckout three in her no-hit performance and walked just one.  Eleven of her outs came on ground outs.

Stacy Bahr (Racine/Park) copied Stang's performance in the first game with four no-hit innings of her own in the second game.  Bahr faced the minimum in the first four frames and struckout five.  The 'Hawks also worked to get a 3-0 lead in that span.  Cruz singled home a run in the first and Amanda Mertes (Des Plaines, IL/Elk Grove) and Sarah Fisher (Greenfield/Greenfield) each drove in one in the second.

Lawrence finally got their first hit of the game, and day, in the top of the fifth and things snowballed from there as they went on to score six in the inning and take a three-run lead.

The Warhawks fought back to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth and things got started with a one out solo homerun by Epifanio.  Cruz followed with a single, which was followed by an Amanda LeBeau (Worth, IL/Richards) walk and a McDonnell single to load the bases.  Lauren Rankins (Marengo, IL/Marengo) then drew a walk to score the second run of the inning and later Gaza reached on a fielder's choice that scored LeBeau.

Katie Boyle (Greendale/Thomas More) came on in the sixth for the 'Hawks to preserve the tie until the Warhawks took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Cruz.  Stang came into the game in the top of the seventh after the first two batters reached for Lawrence.  She proceeded to record three straight outs and earn the save.  Boyle got the victory and improved to 4-6.

Cruz recorded four RBIs for the day while going 4-for-6 at the plate.  Epifanio produced three RBI while scoring twice and McDonnell was a perfect 4-for-4 for the day scoring three runs and driving in two.

UW-W will host Stout on Saturday, May 1 for a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 pm.

For additional information, Brenda Volk