The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team earned its fourth win of the season over a top-five ranked opponent Tuesday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (17-9 overall) fell by a 6-1 score in the nightcap against the Titans in a rematch of last season's NCAA Bloomington (Ill.) Super Regional.
In Game 1, UW-Whitewater took a 3-0 advantage and hung on as juniors
Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) and
Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) combined to strand 10 Illinois Wesleyan baserunners in the contest.
Matthias (9-2) earned the win, tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing only two hits and one run in that span. Biesiada picked up her second save of the year, pitching the final 2 2/3 frames and allowing only one unearned run.
After senior second baseman
Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) made a run-saving, backhanded stab with two runners on to end the top of the second inning, the Warhawks got on the board in the bottom half as senior centerfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) hit a two-out double, and was brought home by sophomore designated player
Kaleigh O'Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), who singled to left.
UW-Whitewater doubled its lead in the third on a two-out base hit down the line by senior shortstop
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) that plated senior left fielder
Kayla Seymour (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West).
After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth by Matthias, sophomore pinch runner
Alexis Addante (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) gave the team a 3-0 advantage by scoring on an error.
The Titans (21-6) responded with a run in the top of the fifth, but Biesiada limited the damage by retiring the final two hitters of the frame with two runners on base.
Illinois Wesleyan struck again for a run in the sixth, but Biesiada left a runner in scoring position with three consecutive outs to end the frame.
Biesiada stranded two more runners in the seventh to preserve the win.
In the second game, the Titans broke open a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth with five runs, including four on a grand slam.
Senior pitcher
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) took the loss, dropping to 6-6 on the season. Freshman
Annie Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and Biesiada combined for 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Rux finished 2-for-3 with a solo home run, and Catino added two hits.
The Warhawks return to action this Friday at Lake Forest (Ill.). First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m.
