CLERMONT, Fla. – The No. 19 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team earned two more victories, including its third come-from-behind win of the season, Tuesday at the National Training Center Spring Games.
 
The Warhawks (7-1 overall) started the day with an 8-2 triumph over Buffalo State (N.Y.) before plating 10 runs after the third inning for a comeback 11-9 win over Calvin (Mich.) in eight innings.
 
In UW-Whitewater's second game of the day, senior right fielder Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) started the comeback with a two-run homer to right center to cut the team's deficit down to 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning. Sophomore second baseman Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) singled through the right side to plate freshman pinch runner Sam Lattner (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township), and junior left fielder Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) knocked a sacrifice fly to bring the Warhawks to within one run.
 
After the Knights (6-3) scored two in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-5 advantage, the Warhawks took the lead with four in the top of the fifth. Morelli reached on a throwing error with one out, and her pinch runner, senior Jessica Kaemerer (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West), came around to score on a single to right center by freshman catcher Nicole Neitzel (Verona, Wis./Verona Area).
 
Following an infield hit by freshman DP Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North), Berglund brought Neitzel home with a base hit to right. Sophomore shortstop Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) tied the game at 8-8 with a single through the left side, and Klotz gave the team the lead with a run-scoring base hit to center.
 
Calvin responded to tie the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the fifth, and the game headed to extra innings after neither team was able to score in its final two at-bats.
 
Playing by international rules, where a runner is placed at second base to start each extra inning, UW-Whitewater loaded the bases with one out in the eighth to set up a run-scoring hit by Neitzel and an RBI flyout by Biesiada.
 
Freshman pitcher Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) closed out the game in the bottom of the eighth to move to 3-1 for the season. She tossed the final five innings of the contest, scattering five hits and allowing a pair of runs.
 
In the opener against Buffalo State (2-7), sophomore Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic) and Biesiada combined to pitch a six-hitter. Ethington picked up her first win of the season, allowing only one run over four innings of work. In her first pitching appearance of the season, Biesiada tossed the final three innings, tallying a pair of strikeouts.
 
Klotz, Rux and senior first baseman Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) led the offense with two hits apiece. Klotz knocked a two-run homer in the top of the third inning to give the Warhawks the lead for good.
 
Morelli led off the top of the fourth with a home run and added a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth. Ricci tallied two of her team-high three RBI with a two-run double to left center in the fifth.
 
UW-Whitewater continues action in Clermont Wednesday against Benedictine (Ill.) and New Paltz (N.Y.) at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Central Time, respectively.