Titans Face Eagles In WIAC Championship Opener
UW-Oshkosh enters the WIAC Softball Championship with the league's leading pitching staff and three of the top six hitters as the Titans aim to unseat three-time defending champion UW-Whitewater this weekend in Eau Claire.
The double-elimination, five-team tournament begins at 10 a.m. Friday through Sunday (May 6-8) at UW-Eau Claire's Gelein Field at Carson Park. The winner of the WIAC Championship receives the league's automatic berth to the 62-team NCAA Division III Championship that commences on May 13.
UW-Oshkosh (25-11), seeded second at the WIAC Championship, plays third-seeded UW-La Crosse (25-12) in Friday's second game. The winner advances to Saturday while the loser plays again on Friday. UW-Oshkosh swept a doubleheader over UW-La Crosse by scores of 4-1 and 1-0 in 10 innings on April 17 in Oshkosh.
Fourth-seeded UW-Whitewater (24-12) takes on fifth-seeded UW-Stout (17-19) in the opening game of the tournament on Friday. Top seed and host UW-Eau Claire (24-11-1) received a bye after winning the regular-season WIAC title and will play the winner of the first contest.
The Titans enter the WIAC Championship leading the league with a 2.03 earned run average. The league tournament will feature each of the top five pitching staffs as UW-Eau Claire lists second with a 2.21 ERA, UW-La Crosse is third at 2.36, UW-Whitewater fourth at 3.15 and UW-Stout fifth at 3.18.
UW-Oshkosh, seeking its second WIAC Championship title and first since 2008, boasts the league's top two leaders in earned run average. Sara Brunlieb paces the conference with a 1.54 ERA and Paige Giese ranks second at 1.57. Brunlieb also leads the Titans with a 13-5 record and 72 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched. Clare Robbe owns a 7-3 mark with 43 strikeouts in 69.1 innings while Giese is 4-3 with 19 strikeouts in 49 innings.
UW-Oshkosh's Abby Menting tops the conference in several offensive categories, including batting average (.439), home runs (6), total bases (77), and on-base (.500) and slugging (.720) percentages.
Titan Lauren Torborg lists fifth in the WIAC with a .396 batting average and Erika Berry is sixth at .391. Torborg also ranks third in the league in doubles (11) and stolen bases (12), fourth in runs (29) and fifth in slugging percentage (.566).
Berry's 45 hits are fifth-best in the conference while Haley Bayreuther leads the WIAC with five triples and ranks fifth with 28 runs.
Third-seeded UW-La Crosse's Brittany Baldwin leads the conference with 20 stolen bases and Sydney Murphy lists third with a .400 batting average. Eagles pitchers Caitlyn Hughes and Jessie Carignan rank fourth and fifth in the WIAC with 2.02 and 2.18 ERA's, respectively. Hughes has produced a 9-2 record with 73 strikeouts in 76.1 innings pitched while Carignan is 7-4 with 36 strikeouts in 54.2 innings.
Top-seeded UW-Eau Claire is led offensively by Evie Schaller and Leah Wolff and in the pitcher's circle by Lauren Blasczyk and Zana Lorbetske.
Schaller has a league-leading 48 hits, 40 RBIs, 14 doubles and ranks second with a .432 average and a .484 on-base percentage. Wolff ranks third in both batting average (.400) and hits (46). Blasczyk has compiled a 13-4 record with a 1.81 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 108.1 innings pitched while Lorbetske is 9-5 with a 2.24 ERA and 102 strikeouts across 103 innings.
UW-Whitewater paces the conference with a .322 batting average and a .968 fielding percentage.
The Warhawks offense is led by Caitlin Catino and Mallory Klotz, who lead the league with 37 runs, and Emily Rux and Amy Ricci, who list third and fourth in the conference with 35 and 33 RBIs, respectively.
UW-Whitewater pitcher Julia Camardo, who sports a 2.26 ERA, is the WIAC leader with a 14-4 record and 131 strikeouts in 120.2 innings.
Rachel Thomas and Tori Workman headline the UW-Stout roster. Thomas is batting .378 while ranking second in the league with four triples, fourth with 64 total bases and fifth with 45 hits. Workman has compiled a 10-9 record in the pitcher's circle with a 10-9 record and 100 strikeouts in a league-leading 131 innings pitched.
UW-Whitewater has won a league-best seven WIAC Championships since the event began in 1989. UW-Eau Claire owns six league tournament titles while UW-La Crosse has won two and UW-Stout one.