WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Carroll University softball team lost to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 6-0 in the opening game of a challenging nonconference doubleheader at Kilgour Field on Sunday morning.
It was the first home-field loss of the season and ended a confidence-building four-game winning streak for Carroll, which dropped to 14-10 overall.
UW-Whitewater, which won its fifth straight to improve to 12-5 overall, scored what proved to be the winning run in the top of the second inning on a towering solo home run to left field by junior third baseman Meg Cohrs - who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to power a nine-hit offensive attack.
The traditional national powerhouse Warhawks, who entered the contest hovering just out of the top 25 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III poll, followed with single runs in the fifth and sixth along with three in the seventh to help ensure a victory.
Senior first baseman Kelsey Edwards (Rockford, Ill.), junior left fielder Rosalie Jrolf (Dousman, Wis.), freshman center fielder Sierra Grubor (Milwaukee, Wis.), freshman shortstop Madison Wagner (Harrison, Wis.) and freshman designated hitter Katelyn Schneider (Sussex, Wis.) each had a hit for Carroll, which stranded five baserunners - including two in scoring position.
Junior right-hander Bella Matthias pitched a five-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk to earn a complete-game victory for UW-Whitewater.
Matthias, the team's ace who improved to 6-1 overall and currently has an impressive 0.72 earned run average with 56 strikeouts in 39 innings, had a no-hitter going through 3 1/3 innings before giving up a hard-hit one-out single to right field by Wagner.
Junior right-hander Amanda Osterhus (Munster, Ind.) took the loss for Carroll, allowing two earned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in five complete innings.
Osterhus, who dropped to 7-5 overall, was a steady force in the circle, allowing only one run on two hits through the first four innings.