Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team fell 5-0 at UW-Whitwater Sunday at van Steenderen Softball Complex in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) title game.  UWL, ranked 23rd on this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll, drop to 28-14 on the season.  UW-Whitewater, ranked ninth in the NFCA, improves to 36-7 on the season and earns the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament.

UWL will await word if its earned an at-large bid to the NCAA III Championships when the field is announced Monday, May 8 at noon on ncaa.com. The NCAA Division III Regional will be held Friday, May 12 through Sunday, May 14 with the NCAA Division III Super Regional scheduled for Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20.  The NCAA Division III Championships are Thursday, May 25 through Tuesday, May 30 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

UWL's 28 wins this year are tied for third-most in single-season school history. The Eagles also won 28 games in 2011. UWL finished with a school record 38 wins in 2010 and recorded its second-most wins with 34 in 2009.  The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011 after making their first-ever appearance in 1986.

The Eagles have finished second on six occasions (1985, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2014, 2017) at the WIAC Championship.  UWL won the tournament title in 2009 and 2010.

After four scoreless innings in Sunday's championship game, UW-Whitewater scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Caitlin Catino's RBI single scored Kayla Seymour with the game's first run and pinch-hitter Haley Morelli followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0. The Warhawks added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth on Mallory Klotz' two-run home run.

Jessie Carignan (11-5) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks while striking out one.  Caitlyn Hughes went 1.2 innings in relief, allowing three hits, two runs and two walks with one strikeout.

The Eagles were held to one hit, a two-out single from Ashley Lindstrom in the top of the seventh. The only other player to reach base for UWL against UW-Whitewater's Bella Matthias was a lead-off walk to start the game by Brittany Baldwin.  Matthias retired 20 straight batters before Lindstrom's single in the top of the seventh with two outs.

Matthias (17-3) earned the complete-game win, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five. The Warhawks totaled eight hits with Klotz, Morelli and Amy Ricci each finishing with two.