St. Louis, Mo. -- The No. 10 UW-Whitewater softball team split a pair of games in St. Louis to open their 2026 campaign Saturday. The Warhawks fell to No. 18 Washington University in St. Louis on the road Saturday morning 1-0, but capped the day with a 6-2 victory over Rhodes College.
The Warhawks will wrap up the four-game series in St. Louis another double header against Rhodes and WashU Sunday.
Rhodes Recap
Auburn Roberson (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) plated the first run of the season for UWW in the second inning against Rhodes. The senior singled to shortstop to score
Rachel Radish (Merton, Wis./Arrowhead) from third and give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead. Later in the frame,
Maggie Ward's (Downers Grove, Ill./North) chip shot was perfectly placed -- dropping just inside the line in short left field for a single, a RBI and a 2-0 UWW advantage.
Dani Peshia (Newark, Ill./Newark Community) kept the offense going with a first pitch single in the third.
Kaitlyn Weidemann (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) capitalized with a triple in the right center gap that had Peshia cruising around to score. Radish tagged a liner to center but was robbed of a hit on the diving catch by the center fielder, but she secured the sac fly as Weidemann tagged and scored to make it 4-0.
Rhodes cut the margin in half with two runs in the fifth before the Warhawks responded in kind in the sixth. Roberson and
Baley Berndt (Wausau, Wis./East) tagged back-to-back doubles to plate a pair of runs for the final scores of the game.
Peshia and Roberson were each 2-3 at the plate to lead the UWW offense. Roberson added a pair of RBI and two runs scored in the contest.
In the circle,
Madi DeBennette (Wadsworth, Ill./Carmel Catholic) got the start and the win striking out three in 4.1 innings of work.
Brooke Hock (Green Bay, Wis./Preble) shutout Rhodes in the final 2.2 innings to pick up her first save of the season.
WashU Recap
The pitcher's duel had zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the first,
Auburn Roberson (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) provided a defensive highlight. A single to third base saw a throw carom into right field. Roberson was ready on the backup, scooping up the ball and firing a rocket to second as
Emma Giese (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) tagged the runner sliding in for the out.
Giese blasted a one-out double in the top of the second, but the WashU hurler got out of the inning. Warhawk pitcher
Josie Hammen (Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly) faced the minimum through three. The Bears were able to get their first baserunner to second in the bottom of the fourth, but Hammen came up with a K and forced a fly out to end the frame and maintain the stalemate.
Hammen got out of another jam in the bottom of the sixth. A one-out walk followed by a bunt single had two on. A fly ball to right field allowed both runners to advance 60 feet but Hammen got out of the inning with a pop up that was hauled in by
Grace Grabowy (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) at third.
The Bears opened the bottom of the seventh with a double to right center. The next patter pushed a bunt through the middle of the infield as the runner from second rounded third and headed for home crossing safely.
Bella Eggert (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North), Grabowy, Giese and
Taylor Koehler (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) all registered hits in the season opener for UWW. Hammen went the distance fanning four while allowing five hits.
