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NCAA Whitewater Regional Web Page
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team got contributions up and down the lineup Saturday afternoon for a 6-5 triumph over Benedictine (Ill.) in the team's first game of the NCAA Tournament at van Steenderen Softball Complex in Whitewater.
The Warhawks (26-11-1 overall) will face Coe (Iowa), a 12-2 winner against Trine (Ind.) in the regional's other Saturday match-up, on Sunday at 12 p.m.
With the game tied at 5-5, sophomore
Megan Schweitzer (Appleton, Wis./East) pinch hit to lead off the bottom of the sixth, collecting a bunt single before stealing second base.
After Schweitzer moved to third on a groundout, senior left fielder
Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) stepped up with a clutch, two-out single to left to plate Schweitzer and give UW-Whitewater the lead.
The Eagles put a runner in scoring position following a double in the top of the seventh, but sophomore
Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) induced an infield pop-up to earn her first save of the season.
Junior
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) pitched the first 6 2/3 innings for the victory, posting eight strikeouts to improve to 13-5 on the year.
Klotz, junior first baseman
Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic), freshman designated player
Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) and freshman right fielder
Kaiden Jackson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) registered two hits apiece to lead the offense. Ethington and junior centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove), who made a leaping grab to steal a home run in the fifth inning, tallied two runs batted in apiece.
The Warhawks took a 2-0 advantage in the first on an RBI hit by Ethington and a run-scoring groundout by Catino.
The Eagles (30-14) took the lead at 3-2 in the top of the third on a pair of home runs.
UW-Whitewater retook the lead in the bottom of the third on base hits by Ethington and Catino and a two-out single to center by senior second baseman
Michayla Swanson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph).
Benedictine struck again in the sixth with two more homers to tie the game and set up the Warhawks' late heroics.
UW-Whitewater and Coe (27-12) last played on April 9, 2017, when the two teams split a doubleheader at van Steenderen Complex.
Benedictine will play Trine (25-12) on Sunday at 2 p.m. in an elimination game. The loser of the Coe/UW-Whitewater game will play the winner of the aforementioned contest at 4 p.m. Sunday in another elimination contest.
