The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team put together two complete performances Saturday afternoon on its way to consecutive victories over Augustana (Ill.) in a non-conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
The Warhawks (3-3 overall) shut out the Vikings 5-0 in the opener before closing the day with a 5-1 triumph in Game 2. UW-W committed only one error on the day and recorded timely hits to complete the two-game sweep.
In Game 1,
Rhiann Dick (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and
Marissa Adams (Le Roy, Ill./Le Roy) combined for a six-hit shutout, stranding a combined eight runners in the contest. Dick (1-2) earned the victory, tossing 5 1/3 innings and striking out four, and Adams picked up her first career save, pitching the final 1 2/3 innings and allowing only one hit.
Designated player
Kennedy Cox (Janesville, Wis./Craig) knocked in three runs to lead the UW-Whitewater offense, and catcher
Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) plated two runs and scored one run. Centerfielder
Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) posted one hit and one run scored.
Dick stranded five Augustana runners over the first two frames. The Warhawks struck in the bottom of the first as Mikosz hit a two-run double to right center with one out, and Cox brought home first baseman
Kaleigh O'Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) with a ground ball to short.
After a 1-2-3 inning by Dick in the top of the third, UW-W touched the plate twice in the bottom half of the frame as Cox knocked a two-run double to right center to increase the lead to five runs.
Right fielder
Taylor Briehl (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley) threw out a runner at the plate in the top of the sixth for the first out of the inning. The Vikings (2-2) proceeded to load the bases before Adams replaced Dick and induced a pair of popups in foul territory to end the threat.
In the nightcap, second baseman
Delaney Becker (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) hit a pair of home runs and tallied three runs batted in, and
Mallory Hollatz (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) and
Kate Cleveland (DePere, Wis./Ashwaubenon) split the pitching duties, allowing only one run on six hits. Cleveland (2-1) earned the win after tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Hollatz, who scattered four hits over 3 2/3.
Both offenses were quiet through the first 2 1/2 innings before Becker smashed a two-run homer to center with nobody out in the bottom of the third to give the Warhawks the lead.
After Augustana scored its first run of the day in the top of the fourth, UW-Whitewater answered in the bottom of the fifth after Cleveland stranded a pair of runners in the top half of the frame.
Becker knocked a high fly ball over the left field fence to bring the Warhawks' lead back to two runs. Later in the inning, O'Brien smashed a two-out double down the left field line to double the UW-W advantage.
Cleveland allowed only one runner the rest of the way.
The Warhawks return to van Steenderen Complex Tuesday as they host Edgewood. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.
