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Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional Web Page
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team looks to advance past the NCAA Regional round for the third time in the last six years this weekend as it hosts the four-team Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (26-12 overall), who are making their seventh straight NCAA appearance, start the double-elimination tournament Friday at 3:30 p.m. against St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Eureka (Ill.). UW-W is hosting the Whitewater Regional for the third consecutive year.
UW-Whitewater claimed the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title before dropping a pair of game in the conference championship. The team garnered a Pool "C", or at-large, bid to the national tournament, its first non-automatic qualifier berth since 2011.
UW-Whitewater started its season with an uneven performance at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., finishing with a 7-5 record that included four wins over nationally-ranked opponents – Calvin (Mich.), St. Thomas (Minn.) and MIT (Mass.) twice. All three teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and St. Thomas and MIT will each host regionals.
The Warhawks finished 9-3 over the first half of April, including a 6-2 WIAC mark. They began the second half of the month with a split against Illinois Wesleyan, last season's runner-up, before winning nine of their next 10, including road sweeps over regionally-ranked Lake Forest (Ill.) and Carthage, and consecutive doubleheader sweeps over UW-La Crosse and at UW-Eau Claire to clinch the program's third straight regular season championship.
Senior
Julia Camardo (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove), juniors
Dani Biesiada (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) and
Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) comprise UW-Whitewater's strong pitching staff.
Matthias, the 2019 WIAC Pitcher of the Year, enters the weekend with a 13-3 record, a 1.42 earned run average and a .160 opponents' batting average in 108 2/3 innings over 20 appearances. She ranks fourth in NCAA Division III in hits allowed per seven innings (3.87) and 10th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.3), and is among the nation's top 30 in strikeouts (145), shutouts (6) and ERA.
Camardo (11-7, 2.95 ERA) is tied for the team lead with 21 appearances and owns 67 strikeouts over 97 1/3 innings. Biesiada (2-2, 1.01 ERA) is tied for the national lead with five saves and is 10th in ERA and 28th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.78).
Seniors
Kayla Seymour (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) and
Emily Rux (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) lead the Warhawks' offense entering the NCAA Regional. Seymour, a first team all-conference outfielder/designated player, is batting a team-best .398 with five doubles, three home runs and 19 runs batted in. Rux, who earned honorable mention All-WIAC honors, is hitting .353 with eight doubles, 17 RBI and a team-high 15 walks.
Senior outfielder
Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) and junior infielder
Meg Cohrs (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) were also named All-WIAC earlier this week. Catino owns a .313 batting average with eight doubles, three homers and 22 RBI, and leads the team in both triples (5) and runs scored (29). Cohrs is batting .319 with eight doubles and a team-high 23 RBI.
Sophomore outfielder
Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson), the WIAC Position Player of the Year a year ago, has raised her batting average more than 50 points to .345 over her last five games with four multi-hit performances. Senior infielder
Kelly Berglund (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) is hitting .309 with six doubles, and sophomore outfielder
Kaiden Jackson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) owns six extra-base hits and a team-high six stolen bases.
Catcher/infielder
Nicole Neitzel (Verona, Wis./Verona Area) owns 12 RBI in 35 games played, including 27 as a starter, and catcher
Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) has plated 13 runs in her 28 games, including 24 as a starter.
Eureka (27-6) enters the week as the NCAA Division III leader in team batting average (.412) and scoring (8.21 runs per game). The team also ranks among the top 10 in the nation in on-base percentage (.453), doubles per game (2.24) and home runs per game (0.97).
Sydney Shubert leads the Red Devils with a Division III-leading .595 batting average to go along with 12 stolen bases. Morgan Ledbetter is batting .532 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI, ranking among the top 10 in the nation in all three categories.
Erin Smith leads Eureka's pitching staff with a 17-3 record and 1.77 ERA in 130 1/3 innings pitched.
The winner of Friday's Eureka/UW-Whitewater game will take on the winner of the Coe/Carthage contest on Saturday at 11 a.m. The two losers will face off in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m., and another elimination game will follow at 3:30 p.m.
The remaining one-loss team will compete against the unbeaten team Sunday at 12 p.m., with a 2:30 p.m. game scheduled if the unbeaten team falls in the noon contest.
Carthage (26-14) is an at-large qualifier from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Coe (32-9) is making its second straight appearance at the Whitewater Regional and earned an at-large bid out of the American Rivers Conference.
