CLERMONT, Fla. – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team handed one team its first loss and shut out another Friday to post two wins on the first day of its spring break trip at the National Training Center Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (2-0 overall) knocked off No. 14 ranked and previously undefeated Heidelberg (Ohio) by a 3-1 score before closing the day with a 7-0 triumph over Kalamazoo (Mich.).
Against Heidelberg (9-1), junior pitcher
Stephanie Waller (Oak Lawn, IL/Richards) scattered four hits over seven innings to earn the win, and the Warhawks broke a 1-1 tie with two in the top of the sixth.
Freshman centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) led off the frame with a double to center. After an infield single by freshman shortstop
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley), both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Junior first baseman
Amy Ricci (Gurnee, IL/Warren Township) brought the go-ahead run home with a sacrifice fly, and junior right fielder
Haley Morelli (Mundelein, IL/Mundelein) plated Rux with a bunt single.
Freshman DP
Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic) led the Warhawks with two hits.
In the contest against Kalamazoo (0-5), UW-Whitewater tallied four runs in the first inning and three more in the fourth.
Freshman pitcher
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) tossed the first four innings of the game for her first career win, striking out four in the effort. Ethington, juniors
Kara Tadda (Lombard, IL/Glenbard East) and
Cara Smoczynski (Aurora, IL/Rosary) each pitched an inning in relief to complete the shutout. The group allowed just two hits.
After Ethington drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, freshman catcher
Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) provided the big hit, a three-run double to left field, to put the Warhawks ahead by four.
Catino singled up the middle in the fourth to bring in another run, and Rux plated two more with another base hit to account for the final margin.
UW-Whitewater continues action Saturday against St. Thomas (Minn.) and Whitworth (Wash). First pitch in the opener is slated for 8 a.m. Central Time.