Titans Denied Piece Of WIAC Title
The UW-Oshkosh softball team will enter the WIAC Championship as the third seed after splitting two games at UW-La Crosse in the final league contests for both teams on Sunday (April 26).
UW-Oshkosh (28-10, 12-4 WIAC) defeated UW-La Crosse (26-12, 11-5 WIAC), 5-1, in the opener behind starting pitcher Sara Brunlieb's career-high 10 strikeouts and league-leading 19th win of the season. The Eagles, ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, denied the Titans a share of the conference title by winning the nightcap, 5-3.
The Titans secured the third seed for the third straight season at the six-team, double-elimination WIAC Championship.
UW-Oshkosh will play fourth-seeded UW-La Crosse in the first round of the WIAC Championship on Friday (May 1) at 2 p.m. in Eau Claire.
In Sunday's first contest, UW-Oshkosh scored three runs in the first inning and two in the second frame in support of Brunlieb's complete-game effort.
Haley Bayreuther led off the game with a walk, Erika Berry doubled home Bayreuther, and Hayden Krueger followed with a single to put runners at the corners. After Krueger advanced to second base on a wild pitch, Emily Mallek hit a two-run single with one out to give UW-Oshkosh a 3-0 advantage off of UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Heather Grelle.
UW-Oshkosh tallied two runs off of Eagles relief pitcher Katie Klein in the second inning on an RBI single by Krueger and a run-scoring groundout by Katie Koepsel.
Brunlieb (19-3) lost a bid for her second straight and fourth overall shutout of the season on an RBI groundout with one out in the seventh inning. Brunlieb scattered nine hits on her way to becoming UW-Oshkosh's first 19-game winner since Ronessa Stampfli in 2008.
Krueger went 3-for-3 with one walk, one run and one run batted in to lead the Titans. Berry and Mallek both added two of UW-Oshkosh's 10 hits.
Grelle (4-2) suffered the loss for UW-La Crosse after yielding three runs in one-third of an inning.
Klein finished the game in the pitcher's circle for the Eagles, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings pitched. She struck out six and walked three.
UW-La Crosse received two hits each from Brittany Baldwin, Alecia Faber, Emily Holldorf and Sarah Mueller. Nineteen of the 23 players on the Eagles' roster saw action in the opener.
In the nightcap, UW-La Crosse erased a 3-0 deficit with two runs in the third inning and three in the fourth frame.
Koepsel singled home the first UW-Oshkosh run with two outs in the first inning and Mallek followed with an RBI double.
Koepsel increased the Titan lead to 3-0 with another run-scoring single in the third inning, but Emilie Wiltzius hit a two-run home run – her ninth of the year – in the bottom of the third frame, and the Eagles took their first lead of the day with three runs on four hits in the fourth.
UW-La Crosse's Andrea Coles squeezed home the tying run, Baldwin followed with a run-scoring infield single to take a 4-3 lead, and Megan Nelson added an insurance run with an RBI groundout.
UW-Oshkosh had the potential tying run at the plate in the fifth and sixth innings, but Nelson entered the pitcher's circle for the Eagles with two outs in the sixth frame and retired the last four Titans in order to record her first save of the season.
Holldorf had three hits and Mueller two to pace UW-La Crosse.
Eagles starting pitcher Jessie Carignan (9-3) earned the win after allowing three runs (two earned) and recording five strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Koepsel registered two singles and Mallek two doubles for UW-Oshkosh.
Brunlieb started in the pitcher's circle for the Titans but did not factor in the decision after ceding two runs in five total innings.
Clare Robbe (9-7) was charged with the loss for the Titans after pitching the fourth inning in relief of Brunlieb, who reentered at the start of the fifth frame. Robbe yielded three runs on four hits.
UW-Oshkosh, which was seeking its fourth WIAC title and first since 2007, lost for just the fourth time in the last 25 games.
Photo courtesy of Jim Lund