Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team was eliminated from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship Saturday afternoon with a 10-3 loss to eighth-ranked UW-Whitewater.  The Eagles advanced to the elimination game with a 9-6 victory over UW-River Falls Saturday morning.  UW-L is now 27-14 on the season.

The Eagles, the championship's fourth-seed, took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning in their loss to UW-Whitewater, the tournament's second-seed.  Megan Nelson hit a solo home run to get the scoring started and after Greta Gumness drew a walk, Jessie Carignan followed with a two-run home run to make it 3-0.

UW-Whitewater took the lead with five runs in the top of the fifth.  Amy Ricci's RBI single scored Mallory Klotz to cut the lead to 3-1 and after a Kelynn Sporer walk, Maggie Hansen hit a grand slam down the leftfield line to give the Warhawks a 5-3 advantage.

UW-L left the bases-loaded in the bottom of the fifth and hit into an inning-ending double play in the sixth.  UW-Whitewater tallied five runs in the seventh as Paige Evangelista, Caitlin Snyder, Klotz and Deven DuCharme each recorded an RBI.

Katie Klein (6-3) suffered the loss for UW-L, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing one hit, two runs and three walks.  Carignan started for the Eagles, going 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and one walk with one strikeout.

Five different players had a hit for UW-L.

Bekka Houda earned the victory for UW-Whitewater, going 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and two walks while striking out two. Sporer picked up the save, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing one hit and two walks with one strikeout.  UW-Whitewater totaled 14 hits in the game as Klotz finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Jo Jablonski went 3-for-5 with a run.  Hansen finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and four RBI while Snyder went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

UW-L advanced in the championship after rallying for its 9-6 win over sixth-seeded UW-River Falls.   The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Alecia Faber scored on a Emilie Wiltzius RBI double.  The Falcons took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third on Katie Thompson's two-run home run scoring Amber O'Connell, who had doubled earlier in the inning.

UW-L regained the lead in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs to make it 3-2.  Klein tied the game with a solo home run and Brooke Baldwin scored on a passed ball to give the Eagles a one-run lead.

Shannon Borchardt tied the game for UW-River Falls with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, but Nelson's RBI single scored Faber in the top of the fifth to give UW-L a 4-3 lead.  The Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the fifth as O'Connell came in on Thompson's sacrifice fly and UW-River Falls took a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after Toni Lubahn and O'Connell scored on Aiyana Ledwein's double.

The Eagles rallied for five runs, all coming with two outs, on one hit and one error in the top of the seventh.  Kelli Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 6-5 and Nelson came in on a passed ball to tie the game.  Gumness followed with a three-run home run to left center to make it 9-6.  UW-River Falls stranded one runner on in the bottom of the seventh.

Carignan (11-4) earned the victory, pitching 3.0 innings of relief while allowing two hits, two runs and one walk with one strikeout.  Klein started for UW-L, going 4.0 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs and two walks while striking out four.

Holldorf finished 2-for-3 for the Eagles while Wiltzius went 2-for-4.  Faber scored three times while Gumness had four RBI.

Lauritzen suffered the loss for UW-River Falls, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, nine runs (seven earned) and four walks while striking out three.  O'Connell went 3-for-3 with three runs scored while Ledwein finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and Borchardt finished 2-for-2 with a home run.