EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team fell to UW-Stout in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship 9-5 Friday afternoon. The Warhawks, the number two seed, will face the top-seed UW-Eau Claire at 4 p.m. Friday in an elimination game. Senior shortstop Jo Jablonski (Palatine, IL/Palatine) was named Co-WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete of the Year prior to the start of the game. 

The Blue Devils got their offense going right away with a leadoff homerun to center field. Two innings later, Stout added five runs to their tally bolstered by a two-RBI, one-out double to center to take a 6-0 lead. 

The Warhawks started to chip away at the lead in the fourth. Junior Maggie Hansen (Algonquin, IL/Jacobs) singled to center field to open the inning. With one out, senior Caitlin Snyder (Burlington/Catholic Central) followed Hansen's lead with another single to center. Sophomore Hannah Taylor (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard South) made in back-to-back singles with a base knock to right field to load the bases. In the next at bat, freshman Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) sent a high fly ball to left field for the sacrifice fly to give the Warhawks their first run of the game. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Jablonski led off with a single to right field. Senior Kelynn Sporer (Chilton/Chilton) fell behind 0-2 in the count but was patient and drew a six-pitch walk to put two runners on with one out. A fielder's choice had runners on the corners and two outs for UW-Whitewater. Senior Paige Evangelista (Wheaton, IL/North) tagged a liner to right field that went over the head of the outfielder scoring two. A wild pitch allowed Evangelista to advance to third and Snyder's flare into short right field narrowed the gap to 6-4. 

UW-Stout pushed the lead back to four with two more runs in the top of the sixth. The teams traded runs in the seventh for the final tally, 9-5. 

Senior righty Bekka Houda (Lisle, IL/Lisle) registered the loss on the mound for UW-Whitewater to move to 15-4. Sophomore Steph Waller came in for 4.2 innings of relief allowing five hits while striking out three. 

Snyder was the lone Warhawk to post multiple hits in the game going 2-for-4 with a run batted in. 

UW-Eau Claire was upset in the first game of the championship by No. 6 seed UW-River Falls 1-0 marking the first time since 1996 that the top two seeds dropped their first round games in the championship. 

The Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented to a selected senior at each of the conference's championship events. Jablonski, an Elementary Education major with a minor in Spanish Education, boasts a 3.87 grade point average. She is the fourteenth Warhawk to receive the award in its 34 year history and is the fifth in the last seven seasons for UW-Whitewater. Jablonski shared the award with UW-Eau Claire's Laura Raflik this season.