By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information

WHITEWATER, Wis. (blugolds.com) - Meeting each other for the first time since last year's thrilling 13-inning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater softball teams put together a pair of instant classics once again on Saturday afternoon.

In all too familiar fashion, the Blugolds were on the wrong end of two Warhawk walk-off wins on Saturday afternoon, both by a score of 4-3. The first defeat came in the final inning, and similarly to Whitewater's walk-off winner in that WIAC title game, it took extras to finish off the Blugolds in game two.

In game one, the No. 9-ranked Blugolds jumped out to a three-run lead in the fourth in which the Warhawks responded with three runs of their own in the fifth. With two outs in the seventh, Whitewater compiled a walk and back-to-back singles to pick up the win.

Of the six Blugold hits, Evie Schaller (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, WI/Chi-Hi) and Tayler Mort (So.-Zumbrota, MN/Zumbrota-Mazeppa) both accounted for two each in the defeat.

Game two was similar in that Eau Claire struck first, picking up two runs in the opening inning. They added a notch to their lead in the sixth, but as in the first game, Whitewater came back from down 3-0 to tie it. The score would remain locked at three until the tenth inning when a walk-off solo home run ended it.

Offensive leaders for the Blugolds were Emily Pomykalski (Sr.-Cross Plains, WI/Middleton) who went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Brooke Varian (So.-Madison, WI/West) who went 3-for-3 with two runs batted in.

The UW-Eau Claire softball squad has a quick turnaround with more WIAC competition on Sunday afternoon. They face UW-Oshkosh at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.