Titans Extend Win Streak Against Bengals, #14 Tommies
UW-Oshkosh earned a comeback victory over nationally ranked University of St. Thomas (Minn.) and defeated the Buffalo State College (N.Y.) softball team on Thursday (March 27) in Clermont, Fla.
Jill Vondrak stranded the tying run on third base during the Titans' 2-1 win over St. Thomas. During the first contest, UW-Oshkosh (9-3) ran away with a 12-3 decision against the Bengals (5-5).
The Tommies (9-4), ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III, got a double from McKenzie Wergin in the second inning. She scored on a wild pitch to take the 1-0 lead.
Tess Fadness crushed a double into the right-center gap to start the Titans' fourth. Lindsey Luedke then knocked a single up the middle to even the score.
Leading off the fifth frame, Haley Bayreuther sent one off the top of the centerfield wall that stayed in play for a triple. Two batters later, Fadness hit a sacrifice fly to score Bayreuther and go ahead, 2-1.
St. Thomas threatened with three straight singles in the seventh inning. Vondrak then came through with a strikeout and groundout to end the game. On the last play, Luedke ranged to her right and threw from her knees for the final out at second base.
Vondrak (5-2) finished with three strikeouts while allowing eight hits in the complete game. The loss went to Kendra Bowe, who surrendered two runs on five hits over five innings.
Bayreuther scored three times and drove home two runs in the victory over Buffalo State. The Titans counted seven runs in the fifth inning and four more during the second.
The second inning featured a run-scoring double from Lexi Wagner and RBI singles by Bayreuther and Luedke.
The Bengals tallied two runs in the second frame before Kara Stein's squeeze bunt scored a run and made it a 5-3 contest during the third.
UW-Oshkosh's big inning started with an RBI double from Hayden Krueger. Bayreuther and Taylor Loew then singled in runs and were on base when Fadness stepped to the plate. Fadness smashed a triple to right field that scored three Titans and increased the lead to 11-3.
Sara Brunlieb (4-1) yielded three earned runs over five frames for the victory. Buffalo State had Jordan Sarat take the loss with four ER in one inning. Alison Novak pitched next for the Bengals and allowed five ER over 3.1 frames.
The Titans conclude their Florida trip with games against Concordia University (Mich.) and the University of Chicago (Ill.) on Friday (March 28).
By Jon Feyen