Titans Conclude Florida Trip With 6-3 Record
Erika Berry, Amanda McIlhany and Abby Menting each had three of UW-Oshkosh's 15 hits in the second game of the day as the nationally ranked Titans split a pair of contests to conclude their trip to Florida on Friday (March 23) in Clermont.
UW-Oshkosh (13-6) defeated University of Chicago (Ill.), 10-2, after falling by a 9-0 score in six innings to Hope College (Mich.). The Titans entered the day ranked 25th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
The Titans never trailed against University of Chicago and took the lead for good at 4-2 with two unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning. UW-Oshkosh tacked on three more runs in the fifth frame, one in the sixth and two in the seventh on the way to picking up its fourth straight win over the Maroons since 2015.
Berry had a double, a triple and scored three times. McIlhany went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs while Menting scored once and drove in one run. Acacia Tupa added a triple, one run and one RBI.
UW-Oshkosh took a 1-0 lead on Kaitlyn Krol's one-out single that plated Berry, who doubled to lead off the game.
University of Chicago (4-5) knotted the score at 1 on a run-scoring single from Maeve Garvey in the home half of the first inning, but the Titans answered with a run of their own during the second frame as Brianna Witter scored on a wild pitch with two outs.
The Maroons tied the game at 2 on a one-out wild pitch in the bottom of the second inning before the Titans reclaimed the lead with two runs in the fourth frame on a pair of errors during the same play. Berry singled with one out in the fourth. Katie Fontanetta then reached first base via a throwing error following a sacrifice bunt attempt. The Maroons catcher, who received the ball after the initial throwing error, proceeded to throw the ball deep into left field, allowing Berry and Fontanetta to cross the plate. Fontanetta's dash around the bases concluded with a headfirst dive to home plate just ahead of the tag.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Bailey Smaney, who stranded two Maroon baserunners in both the first and second innings, pitched around two singles in he third frame by inducing a double play grounder from Berry at third base to Krol at first to thwart the threat.
Smaney pitched out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning by getting a routine groundball to end the frame. Smaney then worked around a leadoff single in the fifth inning by retiring the final three Maroons she faced before being relieved by Claire Petrus to start the sixth.
Tupa and McIlhany sparked the Titans' three-run rally in the fifth inning with back-to-back RBI triples. Witter followed with a single to score McIlhany for a 7-2 UW-Oshkosh lead.
McIlhany added a two-out, run-scoring infield single in the sixth inning. The Titans completed the scoring in the seventh frame as Berry scored on a two-out error, and Menting tacked on an RBI single.
Smaney (3-2) picked up the win, holding the Maroons to two runs while scattering nine hits in five innings pitched. She walked three and struck out three.
Petrus, who has started in the pitcher's circle in 11 of the Titans' 19 games, secured the victory with two scoreless innings during her third relief appearance of the season.
Serena Moss led University of Chicago with two hits and three stolen bases. Garvey, Holli Jones and Emma Nelson each all added two of the Maroons' 11 hits.
University of Chicago's Molly Moran was charged with the complete-game loss after yielding 10 runs (six earned) and collecting seven strikeouts. She faced 43 batters en route to falling to 2-3 on the year.
In the setback to Hope College, Flying Dutch starting pitcher Sydney Jones went the distance, tossing a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and one walk. Jones, who threw a no-hitter against Plymouth State University (N.H.) the previous day (March 22), allowed just two Titans past first base.
UW-Oshkosh advanced a runner to second base with one out in the second inning and with two outs in the third frame.
Jones (5-1), Hope College's all-time strikeout leader with 539, fanned two Titans in each of the first three innings.
Hope College (10-2) opened the scoring on a two-out solo home run from Haley Reitsma in the top of the first inning. The Flying Dutch added four runs in the third inning and two more in both the fifth and sixth frames to invoke the eight-run rule.
Noelle Jackson, Reitsma and Sierra Mutschler keyed Hope College's four-run third inning with consecutive run-scoring hits with no outs.
Jackson, Mutschler, Reitsma and Savannah Dixon each had two of the Flying Dutch's 12 hits.
Krol recorded the Titans' first hit with a leadoff single in the bottom of the second inning. Witter rapped a leadoff single in the third inning, and Natalie Dillon led off the UW-Oshkosh fifth frame with a single. The Titans had their leadoff batter on first base during each of the first three innings before Jones set down 12 of the last 13 Titans to end the game.
Petrus (8-3) was charged with the loss for the Titans, ceding five runs on six hits over the first three innings.
The Titans return to action April 5, when the Titans conduct their home opener against Marian University at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
Photo by Paul Fionda