WIAC Tournament Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team (22-18) faces UW-Platteville (24-14) in the 2025 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) on Friday, May 9. First pitch is scheduled for noon at the UW-Whitewater van Steenderen Complex.
UWL enters the tournament as the fourth-seed while UW-Platteville is the fifth-seed. Third-seeded UW-Eau Claire play sixth-seeded UW-Stevens Point at 2:30 p.m. in the other first-round game.
Kyra Lard is hitting .379 this season.
The winner of UWL/UW-Platteville faces top-seeded UW-Whitewater at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 while the winner of UW-Eau Claire/UW-Stevens Point plays second-seeded UW-Oshkosh at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The championship follows a single-elimination format with the title game set for 4 p.m. Saturday.
The championship winner will be declared the conference champion and earn the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament. The NCAA Division III Regionals will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17 with the NCAA Division III Super Regionals scheduled for Thursday-Friday, May 22-23. The NCAA Division III Championships are Thursday, May 29-Wednesday, June 4 in Bloomington, Illinois.
UWL is seeking its fifth league tournament title, including second in three years. The Eagles won the conference championship two years ago, going 4-0 as the third-seed. UWL earned a 2-1 victory in nine innings over UW-Stevens Point in the championship game. The Eagles also secured the tournament crown in 2009, 2010 and 2019.
UWL, 51-57 all-time in the conference championship, have placed second on six occasions (1985, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2014, 2017).
Brooke Howard leads UWL
in runs, hits and triples.
UWL enters the league championships hitting .302 overall while averaging 4.6 runs per game.
Kyra Lard is hitting a team-high .379 (47-of-124) while starting all 40 contests this season. She also leads the team in slugging (.548) and on-base (.466) percentage, RBI (29), doubles (15), total bases (68), and walks (21).
Maddy Bornbach is second in hitting at .375 (39-of-104) while playing in 35 games with 34 starts. She ranks second in slugging percentage (.510), doubles (11) and RBI (22) while being third on the team in hits (39) and on-base percentage (.417).
Starting all 40 games,
Brooke Howard is hitting .366 (49-of-134) while
Abbey Bosch has started 33 contests and is hitting .311 (33-of-106). Howard leads the team in runs (30), hits (49) and triples (6) while ranking second in total bases (64), walks (11), on base percentage (.422) and stolen bases (12).
Carly Gross has played in 36 games including 34 starts, while
Lindsay Steien has started all 40 games. Gross is hitting .306 (26-of-85) and leads the Eagles in stolen bases (14). Steien is hitting .304 (35-of-118) while leading the Eagles in home runs (4) and ranking second in triples (2) and stolen bases (12) and third in runs (18), doubles (6), RBI (19), total bases (57), slugging percentage (.496).
The Eagles have compiled a 3.05 team earned run average this season, holding opponents to a .259 batting average and 3.9 runs per game.
Brynne Bieri (6-2) and
Kaeley Niemiec (6-5) lead the team in wins (6), while Bieri also leads the team in ERA (1.82) and walks allowed (3). She is second in opponents' batting average (.254), earned runs allowed (9), and hits allowed (35). Niemiec leads UWL in starts (13) and shutouts (1) while being second in ERA (2.32), appearances (18), complete-games (2), saves (1), innings (63.1), and strikeouts (53).
Kaeley Niemiec is 6-5 this season
with a 2.32 earned run average.
Carmen Follette is 4-6 on the year with a 3.79 ERA with a team-high 88.2 innings. She also leads UWL in appearances (24), saves (7), complete games (3) and strikeouts (63).
Madi Lee is 4-5 with a 3.67 ERA and has appeared in 16 games with 13 starts. She leads the team in shutouts (1) and opponents' batting average (.234) while pitching 55.1 innings with two complete games and 47 strikeouts.
UWL is 4-6 against the five other teams this season in this year's tournament. The Eagles swept UW-Stevens Point (April 19) while splitting with UW-Eau Claire (April 16) and UW-Platteville (May 3). UW-Oshkosh (April 12) and UW-Whitewater (April 26) each defeated UWL twice.
Sam Korn is in her second season as UWL's head coach in 2025. She arrived at UWL after serving as head coach at Rockford University (Ill.) in 2023.
