Titans Bring Down Green Knights Twice
Three UW-Oshkosh pitchers combined to limit St. Norbert College to eight hits as the Titans won a pair of softball games on Thursday (April 21) at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
UW-Oshkosh (21-5), which has won 13 of its last 14 games, defeated St. Norbert College (2-22) by scores of 4-1 in the first contest and 9-2 in the second. The Titans have won their last five meetings with the Green Knights.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Clare Robbe allowed just two hits in the complete-game win in the opener, while Sara Brunlieb and Paige Giese combined to scatter six hits in the nightcap.
In game one, Elizabeth Fonk drove in the Titans' first three runs, and Abby Menting and Brianna Witter both went 3-for-3 at the plate. Caitlin Hoerning hit an inside-the-park home run and drove in four runs in the second game.
St. Norbert College took 1-0, first-inning leads in both ends of the doubleheader, but UW-Oshkosh responded with a pair of runs in the home half of the first frame during both games.
In the opener, Green Knights leadoff batter Gina Mastrodomenico reached via a throwing error by Robbe and scored on a one-out double by Tia Danforth.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning, Fonk scored two runs with a single to center field, and Robbe gave up just one hit the rest of the way.
St. Norbert College had just one batter reach second base after the first inning. Megan Yeo led off the Green Knights' third inning with a single and advanced to second base on a groundout, but Robbe induced a pair of ground balls for outs to end the frame.
Fonk lifted a sacrifice fly to score Hayden Krueger in the fifth inning, and the Titans capped the scoring on Menting's two-out, run-scoring single in the sixth.
Robbe retired St. Norbert College in order during the second, fourth and seventh innings. She struck out three batters and walked one on the way to improving her record to 5-1.
Starting pitcher Lexi LeCalsey was charged with the loss for the Green Knights after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks in five innings.
In the second game, the Green Knights scored in the top of the first inning on a double-steal of second base and home. Danforth stole second base while Ashley Schuettpelz crossed the plate on the throw down to second. The stolen bases were the firsts of the season for both Danforth and Schuettpelz.
UW-Oshkosh's Erika Berry reached on an infield error with one out in the first inning. Lauren Torborg followed with a double to score Berry, and Krueger scored Torborg with a single.
The first four Titans reached base in the bottom of the second inning against St. Norbert College starting pitcher Francesca Marrese. Kaitlyn Krol and Giese singled before Tanya Hammitt walked to load the bases for Haley Bayreuther, who singled home Krol with the eventual game-winning run. Marrese limited UW-Oshkosh to one run in the inning by getting a double-play lineout and a groundout.
UW-Oshkosh added one run in the third inning on a groundout by Krol, three runs in the fourth frame and a pair of runs in the sixth on Hoerning's inside-the-park homer past a diving Amy McBride in center field.
The Titans' three-run fourth inning featured a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded from Menting and a two-run fielder's choice off the bat of Hoerning. Torborg scored easily from third base on Hoerning's grounder, while Krueger raced all the way home from second base on the play.
Brunlieb (11-3) earned the win by ceding just one run on four hits and one walk in five innings pitched. She pitched around a pair of one-out singles in the fourth inning by getting the next two Green Knights to ground out.
Giese pitched the final two innings for the Titans, yielding one run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. She allowed two hits, notched three strikeouts and walked one.
Menting and Torborg both had two of UW-Oshkosh's 10 hits.
Marrese suffered the loss for the Green Knights after giving up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks in 3.2 innings pitched. Haley Grunwald pitched the final 2.1 innings for St. Norbert College, allowing two runs on two hits.
UW-Oshkosh returns to conference play at UW-Whitewater on Saturday (April 23).