APPLETON, Wis. -- The ninth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team swept a nonconference doubleheader from Lawrence University at Whiting Field on Thursday by the scores of 10-2 and 7-3.
Whitewater (25-3) had only nine hits in the first game, which ended after five innings, but they hit two homers and scored six unearned runs.
Nicole Bothun hit a three-run homer for the Warhawks in the third and drove in four runs. Suzanne Gersich hit a solo shot in the second.
Jenna Reichel paced Lawrence (6-14) in the opener by going 2-for-3.
Brittany LeBeau went the distance to pick up the win and improve to 5-1 on the season. Emily Perish took the loss for the Vikings.
Whitewater jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second game, but the Vikings trimmed that margin in half in the bottom of the fourth. Carli Gurholt hit her ninth homer of the season, a two-run blast, and she now leads the nation at 0.45 home runs per game.
Lauren Rankins had a run-scoring single in the fifth to give Whitewater a 5-2 lead, and the Warhawks added two more runs in the sixth on Ashley Smith's two-run homer to go up 7-2.
The Vikings had the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth but managed only one run to cut the margin to 7-3.
The Warhawks then brought in staff ace Jessica Stang to shut down another Lawrence rally in the seventh. Stacy Bahr picked up the win with three innings of relief for Whitewater. Meredith Foshag took the loss for Lawrence.