Titans Defeat Beavers After Suffering Loss To Royals
Clare Robbe pitched a shutout and UW-Oshkosh launched three home runs in the nightcap as the Titans split two softball contests on Saturday (March 7) at the Luther College Dome Games in Rochester, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh suffered a 10-1 setback to Bethel University (Minn.) before bouncing back with a 9-0 win over Buena Vista University (Iowa).
Robbe (1-2) earned her first collegiate victory by scattering seven hits and striking out five in six innings pitched against Buena Vista University, which had just one baserunner reach third base.
The Titans and Beavers were scoreless through three innings, but Katie Koepsel and Lindsey Luedke hit back-to-back home runs with one out in the top of the fourth. It was Luedke's team-leading fifth homer of the year while Koepsel connected on her third.
Robbe pitched around a leadoff double in the top of the fifth, and UW-Oshkosh added three insurance runs after two outs in the bottom of the frame. Koepsel drove home Haley Bayreuther with a run-scoring single. Luedke followed with a double that plated Koepsel and Hayden Krueger, who reached on a single.
UW-Oshkosh loaded the bases with three straight walks to begin the sixth inning, and Bayreuther smashed a grand slam – her third home run of the season – to cap the scoring.
Emily Mallek joined Koepsel, Krueger and Luedke with two hits apiece for the Titans.
Buena Vista University (4-4) had defeated WIAC programs UW-Eau Claire twice and UW-La Crosse once in its previous three games.
In the first game of the day, Abbie Bircher went 3-for-3 with a home run and three runs batted in to propel Bethel University (2-1) to victory.
Bircher's two-run homer in the second inning opened the scoring. UW-Oshkosh strung together a two-out rally to pull within one run in the bottom of the third inning on a Krueger single, a Koepsel walk and a Luedke RBI-single that scored Krueger.
The Royals led off their half of the fourth inning with two hits and two runs before recording an out. Bircher knocked in Kelsey Anderson with a single, and Bircher came around to score on an error. Angie Jackson added a two-run single with one out in the fourth to increase Bethel University's lead to 6-1.
Bethel University plated four more runs in the fifth inning on four hits, one walk and one error.
UW-Oshkosh loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Titans' rally was stymied on a groundout to end the game.
Karli Persson earned the win for the Royals by allowing one run on four hits and one walk in four innings pitched.
Koepsel went 2-for-2 for UW-Oshkosh, which was limited to one extra-base hit – a two-out double by Elizabeth Fonk in the second inning.
Sara Brunlieb (2-1) suffered her first loss of the season for the Titans after ceding six runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
UW-Oshkosh is off until embarking on a 10-game spring trip to Clermont, Fla., from March 22-27. The Titans begin the trip by taking on the University of Chicago (Ill.) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on March 22.