Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team split a doubleheader with UW-Whitewater Thursday afternoon at North Campus Field.  The Eagles earned a 7-6 win in the opener before the Warhawks came back to win the nightcap, 5-2.  UW-L is now 17-5 overall and 5-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while UW-Whitewater is 17-5 overall and 4-2 in the conference.  The Warhawks are receiving votes on this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll.

UW-L took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning in the opener.  Kallie Krech singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  She then moved to third on Emily Holldorf's sacrifice bunt.  After a line-out, Katie Fink singled with two outs to score Krech.

UW-Whitewater answered back in the top of the fourth with three runs.  Courtney Smith scored on a UW-L fielding error to tie the game while Kelynn Sporer scored on a groundout to make it 2-1.  Morgan Krisch later added an RBI single to knock in Mimi Ramirez for a 3-1 lead. 

The Eagles regained the lead with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth.  Megan Nelson singled to start the rally and went to second on Heather Grelle's sacrifice bunt.  Emilie Wiltzius later hit a two-out two-run home run to force a 3-3 tie to score Nelson.  Krech and Holldorf followed with singles before Alecia Faber's single scored Krech with the lead run.  Holldorf later scored on a wild pitch.

The Warhawks battled back in the top of the fifth with three runs. Caitlin Snyder's pinch-hit two-run double tied the game and Jo Jablonski later scored on a UW-L fielding error for a 6-5 lead.  

UW-L took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Holldorf singled with one out and advanced to second on Faber's single. Both runners moved up on a Warhawks' passed ball.  Holldorf then scored on a wild pitch to tie the contest at 6-6 with Faber moving to third.  Fink's RBI single then scored Faber with the eventual winning run. 

After the first two UW-Whitewater hitters were retired in the top of the seventh, the next two runners reached on an error and single, but UW-L recorded the final out on a fielder's choice. 

Heather Grelle (6-0) picked up the victory for UW-L, pitching 2.1 innings in relief.  She went 2.1 innings, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) with one strikeout. Nelson, who started the game, re-entered to pitch the seventh inning earning her third save of the season.  She pitched 4.2 innings overall, allowing seven hits, three runs (none earned) and one walk with one strikeout. Five different players, Holldorf, Faber, Fink, Nelson and Krech each had two hits in the opener. 

Sproer (7-2) took the loss for UW-Whitewater, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing 11 hits, seven runs (five earned) and one walk with three strikeouts. Kelly McGrail, Krisch, Laura Eichenold and Chelsey Schobert each had two hits.

The Warhawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the nightcap on a Krisch home run. UW-Whitewater added two runs in the top of the third on McGrail's double knocking in Jablonski and Alyssa Fernandez. 

UW-L cut its deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth with Fink scoring on Kelli Anderson's sacrifice bunt and Nelson coming in on an RBI double from Wiltzius. 

Krisch hit a two-run double in the top of the fifth to extend UW-Whitewater's lead to 5-2 as Jablonski and McGrail scored. 

Jessie Carignan (5-1) took the loss for UW-L, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out three. Nelson finished 3-for-3 with a run scored. 

Bekka Houda (8-2) picked up the victory for UW-Whitewater. She went 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, two runs and four walks with seven strikeouts.  Jablonski went 3-for-3 with two runs scored while Krisch was 2-for-4 with three RBI. 

UW-L returns to action Saturday, April 12 at UW-Stevens Point in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.