Related Links:
WIAC Softball Championship Web Page
NCAA Selection Show – Monday, 12 p.m. Central
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team claimed its sixth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and sixth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday with a 6-5 victory over UW-Oshkosh in the conference tournament title game at van Steenderen Softball Complex in Whitewater.
 
With the program's conference-leading 10th WIAC Tournament championship all time, the Warhawks (25-11-1 overall) will make their 21st NCAA Regional appearance and ninth in the last 11 years.
 
UW-Whitewater will find out its regional destination during Monday's NCAA Selection Show, which will air live on NCAA.com starting at 12 p.m. Central Time.
 
The No. 2 seeded Titans (25-12) and top-seeded Warhawks exchanged the lead four different times during the contest, with the advantage never being more than two runs at any point.
 
UW-Whitewater struck in the bottom of the first inning as junior third baseman Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) stung a two-out line drive to left center to plate freshman right fielder Kaiden Jackson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg).
 
After a two-out base hit in the top of the third and a solo homer in the fourth gave UW-Oshkosh a 3-1 lead, the Warhawks responded to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Titan error and a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Michayla Swanson (Randolph, Wis./Randolph).
 
The Titans grabbed the lead again on another homer in the top of the fifth before UW-Whitewater took the lead for good with three in the bottom of the frame.
 
Senior left fielder Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) led off the inning with a single, and junior first baseman Molly Ethington (Rock Island, Ill./Alleman Catholic) singled to left with one out. After a walk by senior centerfielder Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove), sophomore catcher Nicole Neitzel (Verona, Wis./Verona Area) knocked a base hit off the shortstop's glove and through the left side to give the team a 5-4 advantage.
 
Freshman pinch hitter Michelle Birkholz (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) padded the lead with a two-out, infield single that plated Catino, who had advanced to third on a fly ball by Swanson.
 
UW-Oshkosh narrowed its deficit in the sixth, but sophomore pitcher Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) limited the damage to send the Warhawks to the seventh with the lead.
 
Biesiada posted a 1-2-3 seventh inning to earn her second win of the season and clinch the UW-Whitewater victory.
 
Neitzel finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, and Ethington posted two hits and one run scored. Catino scored a pair of runs.
 
Junior Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Warhawks before Biesiada came on with two outs in the fifth.