The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team turned in two more strong performances Saturday, improving to 6-0 on its home field consecutive victories over Chicago in a non-conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex.
 
The Warhawk (8-4 overall), who extended their current winning streak to five games, defeated the Maroons 7-1 in the opener before taking Game 2 by a score of 6-2.
 
In Game 1, first baseman Kaleigh O'Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) finished 4-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, one home run and three runs batted in to lead the offense. Second baseman Delaney Becker (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) recorded two hits, including a home run, and knocked in two runs.
 
UW-Whitewater's pitching combination of Mallory Hollatz (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township), Marissa Adams (Le Roy, Ill./Le Roy) and Kate Cleveland (DePere, Wis./Ashwaubenon) combined to strand nine Chicago runners. Hollatz improved to 2-0 with the win, tossing four shutout innings and stranding six runners over the first three frames before a 1-2-3 fourth.
 
The Warhawks scored all four of their runs in the first inning after there were two outs. Centerfielder Meghan Dunning (Plainfield, Ill./South) started the rally with a run-scoring single through the right side, and O'Brien knocked a two-run double down the left field line to plate two more. Second baseman Delaney Becker (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) singled home another run to make it 4-0.
 
Right fielder Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) started the bottom of the second with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by designated player Kennedy Cox (Janesville, Wis./Craig), increasing the UW-W advantage to five runs.
 
O'Brien and Becker smashed back-to-back home runs to start the bottom of the third and put the Warhawks ahead by seven.
 
The Maroons (2-7) scored their lone run of the contest in the top of the sixth. Adams cut the Chicago rally short by inducing a double-play groundout and another ground ball to end the frame. Cleveland pitched around a two-out, infield single to retire the side in the seventh.
 
In the nightcap, UW-Whitewater recorded three runs in the first inning on an RBI double to right center by Cox and a two-run homer by catcher Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling), her third of the year.
 
Pitcher Rhiann Dick (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) stranded the bases loaded in the top of the second, and O'Brien hit a rope over the right-center field fence for a solo home run to give UW-W a 4-0 advantage.
 
Chicago scored twice in the top of the third and the Warhawks left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, but the Maroons returned the favor by leaving three on in the top of the fourth as Annie Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) replaced Dick and incited an inning-ending groundout to hold the UW-W lead at 4-2.
 
UW-Whitewater added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on a double to center by Becker and a wild pitch.

Morelli pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief to earn her first win. Dick started and pitched the first 3 2/3 innings.
 
The Warhawks host Wisconsin Lutheran Sunday at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex.