Titans Take Two From 10th-Ranked Warhawks
Taylor Loew (Fr. • Burnett), Lindsey Luedke (Fr. • Howard) and Jill Vondrak (Jr. • Westchester, Ill.) were the heroes as UW-Oshkosh booked two wins over UW-Whitewater on Monday (April 16) at YP.com Softball Park. The Warhawks (20-3/3-2 WIAC) are ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by the NFCA.
The Titans (17-5/4-0 WIAC), playing their first home game of the season, won the opener 3-2 on Loew's two-out, walk-off single during the eighth inning. Vondrak then retired the first 17 batters to gain a 2-0 victory in the second contest. Luedke connected for a clutch home run in each game.
UW-Whitewater got the first run on the day after Emily Epifanio doubled in the second inning. She scored on a groundout by Laura Eichenold, and that 1-0 score remained until the bottom of the fifth. That's when Kassie Krueger (Jr. • Plover) poked a single up the middle to tie the game.
UW-Oshkosh made some outstanding defensive plays to keep the Warhawks off the board. Pitcher Courtney Wautier (Sr. • Brussels) and shortstop Haley Bayreuther (Fr. • Janesville) each speared a line drive and turned a double play. In the sixth frame, two Warhawks were on base when Hayden Krueger (Fr. • Bristol) made a diving grab in centerfield for the second out.
In the seventh, UW-Whitewater went ahead with Chelsey Schobert's RBI single. The Titans came right back, as Luedke led off the bottom of the frame with a high drive to center. The ball seemed to carry forever before settling just over the wall for a game-tying homer.
The eighth inning got going with a Tess Fadness (Jr. • Eau Claire) single. She then advanced on a sacrifice from Hillary Trebiatowski (Sr. • Plover). Loew came up next and belted a single that allowed Fadness to race home for the winning tally.
Wautier got the win with eight innings of two-run ball. Katie Boyle yielded two runs over seven frames for the Warhawks, but Bekka Houda took the loss after getting two outs.
UW-Oshkosh has nine round-trippers in the past two days. The nightcap scoring started with Luedke's shot over the left-field wall during the fourth inning. Katie Koepsel (So. • Oak Creek) ripped another long one just inside the LF pole to make it 2-0 in the fifth.
Vondrak was untouchable, pitching 5.2 perfect innings before Kelly McGrail grounded a single through the infield. During the seventh, Luedke made a great stop at 2B and tagged the Warhawk in front of her to clinch the win.
Improving to 4-1, Vondrak allowed just two hits with two strikeouts in seven innings. Houda was the losing pitcher, surrendering both runs on three hits over five frames.
UW-Oshkosh takes its nine-game win streak to UW-Stevens Point on Thursday (April 18).
By Jon Feyen