The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team used a combination of strong pitching and steady hitting Monday to down UW-River Falls twice in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (14-7 overall, 3-1 WIAC) posted a 4-0 victory in the opener before claiming the second game by a 12-2 count in a contest ended after five innings by the run rule.
Eight different players combined for 12 hits in the nightcap as UW-Whitewater scored two runs in the first inning, five in the second and five more in the third.
Junior pitcher
Stephanie Waller (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) improved to 5-3 on the season after limiting the Falcons (7-16, 0-4) to four hits in four innings of work.
Junior first baseman
Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and freshman shortstop
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) led the offense with a combined nine runs batted in. Rux posted two hits, including a home run, three runs scored and four RBI, while Ricci finished 2-for-3 with five RBI.
Junior designated player
Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) also homered and registered a pair of hits, and freshman centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) reached base three times and tallied three runs.
In the first game, freshman pitcher
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout for her seventh victory of the campaign. She also compiled five strikeouts.
The Warhawks plated all four of their runs in the first three frames to take early control of the affair.
Ricci knocked in two runs with a single left in the first, and freshman catcher
Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) led off the second with a solo homer down the left field line.
Morelli doubled home Ricci in the third to account for the final margin.
The Falcons mustered hits in the third and fourth innings before Camardo retired 12 straight batters to end the game.
UW-Whitewater begins an eight-game road swing Wednesday at UW-Platteville. First pitch of the conference twin bill is slated for 3 p.m.
