The No. 18 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team used a combination of strong defense and pitching Sunday afternoon to earn a split in a non-conference doubleheader against Chicago with a 3-2 victory in the second game at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
 
The Warhawks (13-5 overall) dropped the first game of the set by a 9-8 score.
 
In Game 1, freshman pitcher Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) picked up her first career win, logging four shutout innings in relief of sophomore starter Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic). Biesiada allowed only one hit in the effort.
 
For the second time in as many days, junior left fielder Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) led off the bottom of the first with a homer, her fourth of the season, to give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead.
 
Chicago (10-7) countered with two runs in the top of the third, but UW-Whitewater limited the damage with a pair of strong defensive plays. After sophomore shortstop Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) cut down a runner at the plate on a ground ball, senior right fielder Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) caught a fly ball and threw directly to the plate to get the runner for a double play to end the frame.
 
Senior first baseman Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) provided the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the fifth, knocking a two-run single to shallow left to give the Warhawks a two-run lead.
 
The opener featured a combined 29 hits, 17 left on base and four errors by the two teams and took nearly two hours and 30 minutes to complete.
 
The Warhawks used five pitchers in the contest, including freshman Kylie Hoffman (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley), who took the loss to drop to 3-1 on the season. Freshman Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) collected the team's lone scoreless outing, tossing a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning.
 
UW-Whitewater's first five batters combined for 11 of the team's 12 hits. Freshman third baseman Meg Cohrs (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) finished 3-for-4 with one run batted in, while senior right fielder Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) registered two hits, including a towering, two-run homer to right in the bottom of the third, and three RBI. Klotz and sophomore centerfielder Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) posted two hits and three runs scored apiece.
 
With the game tied at 3-3 through three innings, the Warhawks took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back, two-out RBI singles by Catino and Morelli.
 
The Maroons plated three in the top of the fifth and three more in the top of the sixth to take a 9-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, when UW-Whitewater scored two on a Chicago error and one on a run-scoring groundout by senior first baseman Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township), who finished 2-for-4 in the game.
 
The Warhawks put two more runners on, but the Maroons got out of the inning and retired UW-Whitewater in order in the seventh.
 
The Warhawks return to action Thursday as they host Dubuque (Iowa) at 3 p.m. at van Steenderen Softball Complex.