The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team sealed its second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship and fourth in the last five years Sunday with a 3-1 victory at UW-La Crosse in the first game of a doubleheader in La Crosse, Wis.
The Warhawks (22-11-1, 12-2 WIAC), who also won the nightcap by a 2-1 score, clinched the No. 1 seed and hosting privileges for the WIAC Championship tournament, which begins this week Friday at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
In the opener, the Eagles (18-16, 5-7) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning, but UW-Whitewater responded with two in the top of the third and never trailed again.
Junior
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) picked up her 10th win of the season with her complete-game performance, allowing only one unearned run on four hits to go with six strikeouts.
Freshman designated player
Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) collected two hits, including a two-out, two-run single in the third inning to lead the Warhawk offense, which left eight runners on base. Junior centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) registered two hits, and junior pinch hitter
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) plated an insurance run in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded walk.
In the second game, sophomore
Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) tossed a complete game to improve to 8-4 on the season. She allowed only four hits and two walks in seven innings and struck out seven batters.
Senior second baseman
Michayla Swanson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) posted a run-scoring base hit up the middle in the second inning, and then forced a rundown between first and second to allow Pflugradt to score in the top of the fourth to give the Warhawks a 2-0 advantage.
The Eagles cut their deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but freshman
Kaiden Jackson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) threw out the potential tying run at the plate on the same play to preserve the UW-Whitewater lead.
Matthias stranded a runner at third in the sixth and stranded two runners on in the seventh to help the Warhawks finish the victory.
UW-Whitewater opens the WIAC Championship Friday at 2 p.m. against the winner of the earlier game between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. The five-team tournament will be played in Whitewater for the second straight season.
