Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 UW-Whitewater's two come from behind wins on Thursday in Clermont, Florida propelled UW-W's head coach Brenda Volk to her 400th career victory. The Warhawks defeated Oberlin 9-6 in eight innings in game one and Middlebury 5-3 in game two.

Volk, the all-time winningest coach in UW-Whitewater and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history, now carries a career coaching record of 400-175-4.  That translates to a .694 winning percentage, ranking her 25th in winning percentage among active coaches in NCAA Division III.

Oberlin Recap
The Warhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an inning and a half.  Emily Epifanio (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) started the inning with a single to centerfield.  Emily Muche (Van Dyne/Winnebago Lutheran) came in to run for Epifanio and immediately stole second and then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Morgan Krisch (Plainfield, IL/Central).  Paige Evangelista (Wheaton, IL/North) followed with a single and Muche scored.  Kiersten Tinkoff (Lake Barrington, IL/Barrington) followed with another single advancing Evangelista to second and then Evangelista stole third.  With runners at the corners Sarah Fisher (Greenfield/Greenfield) hit a grounder that advanced Tinkoff and plated Evangelista.  Laura Eichenold (Elmwood Park, IL/Trinity) followed with a single that plated Tinkoff for the final run of the inning.

Oberlin inched to within one after a two run third and then took the lead away with three runs in the fourth.

Down 5-3 in the top of the fifth the Warhawks rallied to tie the game.  The inning began with a Mimi Ramirez (Chicago, IL/Trinity) single and a sacrifice bunt by Samie Seamon (Antioch, IL/Antioch) to put Ramirez on second.  Epifanio was walked and Krisch followed with a ground out to advance the runners to second and third.  Evangelista came through with the big two-RBI double down the left field line to tie the game.

The sixth and seventh were scoreless and the teams were forced to play extra innings.  The International tiebreak rule was put into effect placing a runner on second to start each inning until a team wins.

The Warhawks took advantage of the runner in scoring position as pinch runner AJ Grigsby (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) was placed on second and came around to score, along with Shauna Binsfeld (Cedarburg/Grafton) who earlier walked, on an Eichenold double to left field.  With a 7-5 lead the Warhawks added to their cushion after an RBI triple by Amanda Mertes (Des Plaines, IL/Elk Grove) that plated Eichenold and an RBI single by Seamon that scored Mertes.

Oberlin tried to battle back from the 9-5 deficit and did manage to score one but the Warhawks escaped with their first come from behind victory of the day.

Eichenold and Evangelista led the way totaling seven hits and six RBI between them.  Epifanio also recorded a multiple hit game, notching two hits, one a double.

Katie Boyle (Greendale/Thomas More) came on in relief for Amy Christopher (Lafayette, CO/Holy Family) to earn the win throwing the final four and two-thirds giving up seven hits and two runs while striking out three.  The Warhawks did not walk a batter in the game.

Middlebury Recap
Another come from behind victory wasn't the plan for Coach Volk to earn her 400th victory but if the formula worked in game one the Warhawks used the same ingredients in game two.

UW-W jumped out to a 1-0 lead this time when Evangelista scored on an error.  The Warhawks extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth when a Kelly McGrail (Tinley Park, IL/V.J. Andrew) double to right center scored Muche.

Middlebury took the lead from Whitewater in the bottom of the fifth scoring three runs on two hits and two errors.

Down 3-2 in the top of the seventh UW-W used their "come from behind" bats to regain the lead.  The inning started with a McGrail single up the middle and an Evangelista double to center that scored McGrail.  Grigsby took Evangelista's spot on second as a pinch runner and came around to score on a Middlebury error on a Ramirez hit.  Ramirez later came around to score on another Middlebury error to give UW-W a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

Bekka Houda (Lisle, IL/Lisle) preserved the victory sitting the Panthers down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to earn her fifth victory of the season.  Houda gave up five hits and three runs while striking out eight and walking none.

Evangelista and McGrail were the only two Warhawks to record multiple hits (two each) and an RBI (one each).

UW-W concludes their spring trip to Clermont, Florida and returns to Wisconsin with an 11-1 record.  The 11-1 start is the best start the Warhawks have had under Coach Volk who has been at the reigns since 1999.

The Warhawks will host Carroll University on April 3 at Van Steenderen diamond in Whitewater for a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 pm.

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