Titans Sweep Green Knights
Katie Koepsel homered and extended her hitting streak to 17 games as the UW-Oshkosh softball team won both games of a doubleheader against St. Norbert College on Wednesday (April 1) in De Pere.
The Titans (12-6) defeated the Green Knights by scores of 2-1 in the opener and 7-2 in the nightcap.
Koepsel ended the day 2-for-5 with a double, a solo home run, and four walks. Her 17-game hitting streak is one shy of tying the program record set by Sydnee Wyss in 2011.
Haley Bayreuther and Emily Mallek both hit two-run home runs in the second contest to give UW-Oshkosh three homers on the day and 17 for the season.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitchers Clare Robbe and Sara Brunlieb combined to allow just three runs in complete-game outings as the Titans won their fifth straight game and eight of their last nine.
In the first game, Koepsel opened the scoring with her team-leading sixth home run of the season to lead off the top of the fourth inning before St. Norbert College tied the game with a run-scoring single by Codi Jenshak in the fifth.
UW-Oshkosh scored the go-ahead run on a one-out RBI-double by Mallek in the sixth inning, and Robbe stranded a runner at second base in the bottom of the sixth and retired the Green Knights in order in the seventh.
Maggie Balke crossed the plate with the winning run and recorded two of the Titans' eight hits in the opener.
Robbe (5-4) allowed one run on six hits, all singles, in seven innings pitched. She walked three and struck out two.
Morgan Rusch (4-5) took the loss for St. Norbert College, allowing two runs on eight hits and three walks in seven innings.
Amy McBride had two hits in the first contest for the Green Knights.
In the nightcap, Jenshak lifted a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning for St. Norbert College, but Brunlieb allowed just three hits after the first frame and went on to win her fifth straight decision.
UW-Oshkosh tallied four runs on five hits, one walk and two errors in the second inning. Mallek tied the game with a two-run homer – her first of the year and fourth in her career – and Bayreuther started a two-out rally with a single and a stolen base. Erika Berry drove home Bayreuther with a double to chase Green Knight starting pitcher Francesca Marrese. Koepsel was intentionally walked by reliever Haley Grunwald, and Hayden Krueger followed with a pinch-hit single to plate Berry for a 4-2 lead.
Bayreuther gave the Titans a 6-2 advantage with her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth inning, and Krueger capped the scoring with an RBI-single later in the frame.
Brunlieb (7-2) set down nine straight Green Knights until walking the leadoff batter in the fifth inning. She closed out the victory by stranding two baserunners in the sixth inning and three in the seventh.
Bayreuther, Berry and Krueger each contributed two hits of the Titans' 11 hits. Bayreuther and Krueger added two runs batted in apiece in the nightcap.
Marrese (0-4) was charged with loss for St. Norbert College after ceding four runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks in 1.2 innings pitched.
Tayler Long and Leigh Grall both had two hits in the second contest for the Green Knights (5-11), who committed a season-high five errors in the nightcap.
The Titans play their home opener and begin the conference schedule when they host UW-Platteville on Wednesday (April 8) at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.