Related Links:
Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional Web Page
NCAA Division III Softball Web Page
The No. 9 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team will face Hope (Mich.) to begin the NCAA Division III Championship at the Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional this Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the game featuring Trine (Ind.) against Greenville (Ill.), which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday. The losers of the two games will square off in an elimination game.
The Warhawks (36-7 overall) enter the national tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. The team enters the weekend on a 13-game winning streak, including three over the weekend to win the WIAC Tournament for the fifth straight season and ninth time overall.
UW-Whitewater, which is making its 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, won its 11th WIAC regular season championship after rolling to a 14-0 league mark. The team has now won 21 straight games against conference opponents.
The Warhawks started the year by winning 10 of 12 games played in Clermont, Fla., finishing 2-2 against eventual NCAA qualifiers.
After back-to-back losses at Lake Forest (Ill.), UW-Whitewater posted victories in seven of its next eight games, including a thrilling sweep over then-No. 9 UW-Eau Claire in consecutive walk-off endings.
Other than a pair of doubleheader splits against fellow national tournament qualifiers Coe (Iowa) and Illinois Wesleyan, the Warhawks didn't drop a game over the final month of the season. The team's most recent loss was on April 19 in the second game against Illinois Wesleyan, a 14-9 setback.
Freshman
Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) and sophomore
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) form the 1-2 punch at the top of UW-Whitewater's pitching rotation.
Matthias, the 2017 WIAC Pitcher of the Year, enters Thursday's game with a 17-3 record and a 1.13 earned run average in 129 2/3 innings. She ranks 10th in the nation with 10 shutouts, including a program-record two no-hitters and a one-hitter to beat UW-La Crosse in the WIAC Tournament championship game on Saturday.
Camardo boasts an 11-2 record with a 3.13 ERA in 90 1/3 innings over 20 appearances. She has pitched six complete games, including two shutouts.
The Warhawks' top five hitters in the batting order all earned All-WIAC accolades.
The group is headlined by senior right fielder
Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein), the 2017 WIAC Position Player of the Year. Morelli has enjoyed a breakout season, currently ranking ninth in the nation in home runs (12), 16th in RBI (48) and 22nd in slugging percentage (.798). She also owns a .457 batting average and has eight doubles.
Junior left fielder
Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) and sophomore centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) hold down the top two spots in the batting order.
Klotz is batting .461 and is among NCAA Division III leaders in hits (65, 7th), total bases (106, 8th) and runs per game (1.31, 12th) while adding 13 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 33 RBI and 11 stolen bases.
Catino is hitting .379 with team highs in doubles (16) and stolen bases (19) as well as 26 RBI.
Senior first baseman
Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and freshman third baseman
Meg Cohrs (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) are fourth and fifth in the batting order, respectively, at the corner infield spots.
Ricci enters the weekend with a .414 batting average, 10 doubles and 41 RBI, while Cohrs has yet to commit an error and leads the team with 81 fielding assists, and is batting .391 with five homers and 40 RBI.
Other regular starters include junior second baseman
Michayla Swanson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph), sophomore shortstop
Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) and freshman catcher
Nicole Neitzel (Verona, Wis./Verona Area). Berglund is hitting .336 with five doubles and 24 RBI, while Swanson enters NCAA play with a .281 average, four doubles, two homers and 17 RBI. Neitzel has been strong defensively with a .990 fielding percentage and has six doubles and 15 RBI.
Hope (25-13) is a Pool C, or at-large, qualifier from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which, like the WIAC, garnered three selections into the tournament.
The Flying Dutch earned impressive sweeps over fellow NCAA qualifiers and conference rivals Trine and Alma (Mich.) to conclude the regular season before dropping their first two games in the MIAA Tournament.
Sydney Jones leads Hope's pitching staff with a 15-5 record and a 0.95 ERA, which ranks 13th in the nation. She also ranks fourth in the nation in shutouts (10), sixth in strikeouts (203) and seventh in hits allowed per seven innings (3.94).
Sammi Adams leads the Flying Dutch offense in batting average (.407), hits (50), runs scored (41) and stolen bases (17). Shay Pinhey ranks second on the team with a .371 average and a team-best 10 doubles.
Sierra Mutschler and Hayley Reitsma provide a majority of the run production. Mutschler is batting .352 on the year with nine doubles, a team-high four home runs and 30 runs batted in. Retisma enters the weekend with a .341 average and nine doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 38 RBI.
UW-Whitewater owns a 7-3 advantage in the all time series between the two teams. Hope won the most recent meeting by a 10-7 score in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
See below for the complete schedule of games for the week.
Thursday, May 11
Game 1: Trine (Ind.) vs. Greenville (Ill.), 1 p.m.
Game 2: UW-Whitewater vs. Hope (Mich.), 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 13
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 12 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6, 2:30 p.m.
