Titans Sweep Pioneers In WIAC Debut
Katie Koepsel established a school record and joined an elite club in conference history as the UW-Oshkosh softball team swept a doubleheader over UW-Platteville on Wednesday (April 8) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
The Titans (14-6, 2-0 WIAC) won the opening game, 3-2, on a walk-off home run by Haley Bayreuther before slugging for the home run cycle in a 16-2, five-inning romp in the nightcap.
Koepsel extended her hitting streak to 19 games and hit a home run and a double in both contests.
Koepsel's hitting streak, which eclipsed the previous program mark of 18 set by Sydnee Wyss in 2011, is the sixth longest in conference history. Her second homer of the day made her the eighth player in WIAC annals with 30 career home runs. Whitney Tornow hit a UW-Oshkosh record 31 homers from 2007-10.
Koepsel ended the day 4-for-5 with one walk, one hit-by-pitch, four runs and four runs batted in.
Sara Brunlieb (9-2) won her ninth straight decision after earning victories in both ends of the doubleheader. She allowed just three hits and didn't walk a batter in 9.2 innings on the day.
In the opener, UW-Oshkosh's Brianna Witter scored the first run of the game on an error with two outs in the second inning.
UW-Platteville answered with two runs on four hits in the third frame off of Titan starting pitcher Clare Robbe, but Brunlieb came on in relief and escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam.
Koepsel launched a home run to center field to lead off the Titan fifth inning and knot the score at 2.
Brunlieb retired the final 11 batters she faced, setting up Bayreuther's walk-off solo home run – her fifth of the season – to left field in the seventh inning.
UW-Platteville outhit UW-Oshkosh, 8-6, but four of the Titans' six hits went for extra bases while the Pioneers were limited to seven singles and one double.
Brunlieb struck out two batters and allowed just a one-out single in the fourth frame in 4.2 innings pitched.
Crystal Rote and Haley Salazar had two hits apiece for the Pioneers (8-12, 0-2 WIAC).
Jess Butzen (3-5) took the complete-game loss for UW-Platteville. She struck out three batters and walked two in six innings pitched.
In the second game, the Titans hit four home runs – a solo, a two-run, a three-run and a grand slam – on the way to their highest run total of the season.
Trailing 1-0, UW-Oshkosh exploded for eight runs on five hits and one error in the second inning.
Elizabeth Fonk gave the Titans a 2-1 lead with her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to right field. Erika Berry drew a bases-loaded walk for a 3-1 advantage before Koepsel added a two-run single that was followed by run-scoring hits from Hayden Krueger, Emily Mallek and Fonk as the Titans sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning.
UW-Oshkosh scored seven more runs in the third inning. Krueger hit a grand slam and Kimberly Lohre added a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the frame for a 15-1 Titan advantage. It was the first homer of the season for Krueger and the first hit of the year for Lohre in three plate appearances.
UW-Platteville's Carley Rote hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, and Koepsel capped the scoring with a solo homer – her team-leading eighth of the season and 30th in her career – in the bottom of the frame.
Fonk, Koepsel and Krueger each had two of UW-Oshkosh's nine hits. Krueger recorded five runs batted in while Fonk, Koepsel and Lohre all added three RBIs.
Brunlieb went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs on two hits in five innings pitched. She had one strikeout and didn't issue a walk.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher Kari Treml (3-3) was charged with the loss after yielding six runs (two earned) on one hit and five walks in 1.1 innings pitched.
UW-Oshkosh puts its seven-game winning streak on the line when its hosts Finlandia University (Mich.) for a nonconference doubleheader on Friday (April 10) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.