Softball | 5/6/2026 5:32:00 PM

WIAC Championships Website

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team (23-16) faces UW-Whitewater (25-13) in the 2026 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) on Friday, May 8. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at UW-Oshkosh's Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.

UWL enters the tournament as the sixth-seed while UW-Whitewater is the third-seed. Fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point faces fourth-seeded UW-Eau Claire at 2:30 p.m. in the other first-round game. 

The winner of UWL/UW-Whitewater faces second-seeded UW-Platteville at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 while the winner of UW-Stevens Point/UW-Eau Claire plays top-seeded UW-Oshkosh at 11 a.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 14-16 with the NCAA Division III Super Regionals scheduled for Thursday-Friday, May 21-22.  The NCAA Division III Championships are Thursday, May 28-Wednesday, June 3 in Salem, Virginia.

UWL is seeking its fifth league tournament title, including second in four years. The Eagles won the conference championship in 2023, 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, 51-58 all-time in the conference championship, have placed second on six occasions (1985, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2014, 2017). 

UWL and UW-Whitewater split this year's regular season series in La Crosse with the Warhawks earning a 7-0 victory in the opener and the Eagles a 5-3 win in the nightcap. UWL also split this year with UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Platteville while dropping both contests with UW-Stevens Point.

UWL enters the league championships hitting .264 overall while averaging 4.3 runs per game. Lindsey Steien leads the Eagles in batting average (.361), runs (31), hits (43), total bases (60), slugging percentage (.504) and stolen bases (21). She is tied for the team lead in home runs (2) with Marissa Pease and ranks second in doubles (9). Steien is also tied for second in RBI (22).

Amber Gonzalez is second in average (.319) and hits (38) while ranking third in runs (19). Pease is third in batting (.313) and currently leads UWL in doubles (13) and RBI (26) while being second in total bases (57) and fourth in runs (17). Brooke Howard is fourth in average (.306) and leads in triples (4). She is tied for second in RBI (22), second in runs (24) and third in hits (37).

The Eagles have compiled a 3.19 team earned run average this season, holding opponents to a .267 batting average and 4.3 runs per game. Carmen Follette is 10-5 this year with a 1.97 ERA. She leads UWL in wins (10), appearances (20), starts (13), complete-games (7), innings (99.2), strikeouts (85) and shutouts (4.0).

Kaeley Niemiec is 4-4 on the year while Bree Holmes and Claire Springer are both 3-1. Holmes is second for the Eagles in ERA (2.39) with Springer second in appearances (19). Niemiec is second in innings (43.0) with Brynne Bieri third (39.2). 

 
Sam Korn is in her third season as UWL's head coach in 2026. She arrived at UWL after serving as head coach at Rockford University (Ill.) in 2023.