CLERMONT, Fla. — The UW-Whitewater softball team scored eight times in the fifth inning to rally for an 11-6 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Friday.
Lawrence (3-8) led 4-1 before the Warhawks rallied in the fifth. Bekka Houda picked up the win in relief for Whitewater, and Liz Barthels started and took the loss for the Vikings.
Six different players collected one hit apiece for Lawrence. Amanda Mertes went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in to pace Whitewater.
Lawrence went up 2-0 in the first when Shannon Murray picked up a run-scoring single, and Kara Vance added a sacrifice fly to drive in another run. The Vikings made it 4-0 in the top of the third with just one hit but got help from two Whitewater errors. Lawrence scored the first run of the frame on a misplayed sacrifice bunt, and Vance drove in the other with a ground out.
Whitewater cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning, and the Warhawks then pulled away in the fifth. Whitewater scored eight runs on 10 hits in the inning to go up 9-4.
The Warhawks went up 11-4 with two runs in the sixth, but the Vikings added a pair of runs in the seventh. Barthels drove in one-run with a bases-loaded walk, and the other run scored on a Whitewater error.