Related Links:
2021 WIAC Softball Championship Web Page
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team hosts UW-River Falls this Tuesday at 3 p.m. at van Steenderen Softball Complex in the quarterfinal round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship Presented by Culver's.
 
Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on UWW-TV on channel 100.1 on campus, channel 989 for Spectrum customers in the Whitewater area and online. Each participating student-athlete will be permitted two in-person spectators, who must wear facial coverings and adhere to social distancing at all times while in the facility. Click here to view UW-Whitewater's spectator policy.
 
The Warhawks (26-8 overall) earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament after clinching a share of the WIAC regular season championship with a 10-4 league record. UW-River Falls is the seventh seed after completing the regular season with a 5-9 conference mark.
 
UW-Whitewater enters the tournament on a 10-game winning streak, including two victories Saturday at UW-River Falls to wrap up its share of the conference title. UW-W started the regular season with a 1-3 record but has now won 15 of its last 16 games.
 
Five of the Warhawks' starters are batting above .300, including leading hitters Kaleigh O'Brien (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and Meg Cohrs (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland), who are hitting .455 and .429, respectively.
 
O'Brien, in her first year as a full-time starter at first base, ranks among league leaders in batting average, slugging percentage (.808), on-base percentage (.530), doubles (15) and total bases (80). Cohrs, a two-time all-conference and all-region selection at third base, enters the postseason on a 23-game hitting streak and is among the top five in the WIAC in batting average and on-base percentage (.479).
 
Centerfielder Vera Pflugradt (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) is hitting .362 while leading the eam and ranking among the conference's top five in runs scored (30), triples (3) and walks (18). Catcher Nikki Mikosz (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) leads the league with 11 home runs, which ranks among the top 10 for one season in program history, and is among the WIAC's best in slugging percentage (.740), runs batted in (36) and total bases (74).
 
Shortstop/outfielder Meghan Dunning (Plainfield, Ill./South) is tied for fourth in the conference with seven home runs and is hitting .317. Other first year starters include outfielder Krista Sbarra (West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East), who leads the team with 10 stolen bases, infielder Delaney Becker (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), who ranks fourth on the team with 19 RBIs, and designated player Kennedy Cox (Janesville, Wis./Craig), who is tied for fourth on the team with seven doubles.
 
Outfielder Taylor Briehl (Spring Green, Wis./River Valley) has started each of the last 10 games and owns a .310 batting average in 25 games. Shortstop Sophia Kinjerski (Maribel, Wis./Denmark) has made 23 starts in 26 games and is hitting .254.
 
Pitchers Mallory Hollatz (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township), Rhiann Dick (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Kate Cleveland (DePere, Wis./Ashwaubenon) have combined to start 32 of UW-W's 34 games.
 
Cleveland is 9-3 with a 2.81 earned run average in 18 games, including 13 as a starter. She leads the team with 74 2/3 innings pitched and has tallied four complete games.
 
Dick leads the team with 53 strikeouts, good for fifth in the league, in 58 1/3 innings, and is 6-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 14 appearances, including 12 starts. Hollatz is holding opponents to a WIAC-best .236 batting average and is 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 10 appearances, including seven starts, with 39 1/3 innings pitched.
 
Annie Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and Marissa Adams (Le Roy, Ill./Le Roy) lead the Warhawks' bullpen. Adams is 4-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 31 1/3 innings over 17 appearances, and leads the team with three saves, good for third in the conference. Morelli is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 16 1/3 innings over 12 appearances. Kathryn Kinsella (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) has appeared in five games, including two as a starter, and is 1-0 with a 4.29 ERA in 10 innings.
 
The winner of Tuesday's game advances to Thursday's semifinals. Matchups will be determined by the results of the quarterfinals.
 
The best-of-three championship series begins Saturday and goes into Sunday if the two teams split Saturday's games.
 
The higher seeds will host all games.