Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team dropped a pair of games at UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon as the two teams opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play at van Steenderen Complex. The Warhawks, ranked 18th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) won the opener, 2-0, and the nightcap, 4-3, over the Eagles, currently ranked 22nd in the NFCA.  UWL falls to 16-8 overall and 0-2 in the WIAC while UW-Whitewater improves to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

In the opener, the teams combined for seven hits.  UW-Whitewater tallied twice in the bottom of the first inning as Mallory Klotz hit a lead-off solo home run to make it 1-0.  Caitlin Catino later scored on Meg Cohrs' RBI groundout.

UWL was held to four hits, all singles, by four different players.  Brittany Baldwin, Sydney Murphy, Stephanie Cole and Kerrigan Koch each had one whit. Baldwin also reached on a walk while stealing her school record 21st base of the season. She broke her own school record of 20 steals set in 2016 as well as Rachel Croak's 20 steals in 2008. Jessie Carignan (6-2) suffered the loss for UWL, going 4.0 innings, allowing two hits, two runs and two walks while striking out three.  Katie Klein pitched 2.0 innings, allowing one hit.

UW-Whitewater totaled three hits with Haley Morelli finishing 2-for-3. Bella Matthias (5-3) earned the complete-game win for UW-Whitewater, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

The Warhawks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning in Saturday's nightcap with Dani Biesiada coming in on Kelly Berglund's RBI double.

UWL scored a pair of runs in the top of the second to lead 2-1 as Lane Dickman and Jenny Gallagher came in on Brittany Baldwin's two-run single. The Eagles added to their lead in the top of the fifth with Brooke Baldwin scoring on Gallagher's RBI single to make it 3-1.

UW-Whitewater took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Catino's double scored Berglund to cut the lead to 3-2 with Morelli following with an RBI single to knock in Klotz with the game-tying run.  Jessica Kaemerer scored the eventual game-winning run with two outs on a UWL fielding error.

Both teams finished with seven hits in the second game Saturday.  Gallagher went 2-for-3 for UWL with a run scored and RBI. Katie Klein (5-3) took the loss for the Eagles, allowing three hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk while facing four batters in the fifth inning. Caitlyn Hughes started for UWL, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing four hits, one run and two walks with one strikeout.

Morelli and Berglund each went 2-for-3 for UW-Whitewater with an RBI. Kylie Hoffman (3-0) picked up the win for the Warhawks, pitching 2.2 innings in relief, allowing one walk with one strikeout. Julia Camardo started, going 4.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs with three strikeouts.

UWL returns to action Sunday, April 2 at UW-Platteville at 2 p.m.