The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team scored a pair of walk-off victories Sunday afternoon to sweep UW-Oshkosh in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Complex.
The Warhawks (19-9 overall, 9-1 WIAC) posted a 1-0 win in the first game before tallying four unanswered runs in a 5-4 triumph in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Warhawks walked off with a one-run win. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, junior shortstop
Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) hit a hard ground ball to short that was bobbled, and junior centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) scored from third.
Junior
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) improved to 8-3 on the season with the complete-game shutout, allowing only two hits while striking out nine, her fifth straight performance with at least nine strikeouts.
Camardo stranded runners at the corners in the top of the first and, after leaving a runner at third in the fourth, retired the final nine batters she faced over the last three innings.
Junior first baseman
Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic) provided UW-Whitewater's lone hit, a one-out line drive to left center in the bottom of the fourth.
In Game 2, UW-Whitewater rallied from a three-run deficit, tying the game on an error by the Titans (15-8, 2-2) in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore catcher
Nicole Neitzel (Verona, Wis./Verona Area) was robbed of a potential go-ahead, three-run homer with two outs on a great catch by the UW-Oshkosh centerfielder.
In the seventh, Catino led off the frame with a double down the left field line, and junior third baseman
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) walked to put two on. Senior second baseman
Michayla Swanson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) bunted the runners over, and Berglund capped a seven-pitch at-bat with a fielder's choice ground ball to plate Catino for the winning run.
Neitzel, Catino and freshman right fielder
Kaiden Jackson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) tallied two hits apiece to lead the offense.
The Warhawks used four pitchers in the contest, with Camardo (9-3) earning her second win of the day by tossing 1 1/3 innings in relief. The right-hander came on with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, inducing a lineout to end the frame before pitching a 1-2-3 seventh.
Following the completion of the doubleheader, Swanson and fellow senior
Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) were recognized in a brief on-field ceremony. The duo helped lead the Warhawks to a 121-41 record over the last four years, including a 44-9 mark against WIAC opponents during the regular season.
Since the 2015 season, UW-Whitewater has claimed three WIAC Tournament championships, two conference regular season titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Warhawks visit No. 18 Illinois Wesleyan for a non-conference doubleheader Monday starting at 3 p.m. in Bloomington, Ill.
