Titans Settle For Third Place At WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh finished in third place at the WIAC Softball Championship after falling twice on Sunday (May 3) at Gelein Field in Eau Claire.
UW-River Falls (23-22) defeated UW-Oshkosh (30-12), 3-2, in eight innings in the first contest of the day, and UW-Whitewater (36-7) ended the Titans' run at the double-elimination tournament with an 8-0, five-inning win in the following game.
In Sunday's first game, UW-River Falls' Callie Looft drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was her second hit and first run batted in of the season in 20 at-bats.
Falcon cleanup hitter Katie Thompson drew a walk to lead off the home half of the eighth frame. She advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and Brooke Lauritzen followed with a walk. A groundout moved Thompson and Lauritzen second and third base, setting up Looft's blooper to right field.
Lauritzen and UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Sara Brunlieb dueled to a scoreless tie through three innings.
Titan Katie Koepsel scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch with two outs in the top of the fourth frame, but the Falcons took a 2-1 lead with two unearned runs in the fifth inning. UW-Oshkosh committed three errors in the inning, including two on the play that allowed the go-ahead runs to score.
UW-Oshkosh's Brianna Witter knotted the score at 2 in the sixth inning with a run-scoring groundout. Koepsel led off the inning with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Tanya Hammitt, who advanced all the way to third base on a sacrifice bunt.
Brunlieb stranded runners at second base in both the sixth and seventh innings, and Lauritzen got out of a jam in the eighth frame after UW-Oshkosh put runners at first and second base with one out.
Lauritzen (11-8) earned the complete-game victory, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits in eight innings pitched. She recorded eight strikeouts and walked three.
UW-Oshkosh's Erika Berry had a double among the Titans' six hits. UW-River Falls also collected six hits, including doubles by Shannon Borchardt and Kaitlyn Lepine.
Brunlieb (21-4) suffered her first loss in 10 decisions, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits in 7.2 innings pitched. She struck out four and walked three.
In Sunday's second contest, UW-Whitewater advanced to the title game by tallying one run in the first inning and adding five runs in the third and two in the fourth.
Warhawks shortstop Jo Jablonski hit an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run double in the third. Kelynn Sporer increased the UW-Whitewater lead to 6-0 with a three-run homer in the third frame, and Deven DuCharme capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
UW-Whitewater starting pitcher Bekka Houda (18-4) went the distance, allowing four hits for her eighth shutout of the season.
Jablonski and Sporer both contributed two of the Warhawks' eight hits.
Clare Robbe took the loss for the Titans, going the first two innings and yielding six runs.
Hayden Krueger registered UW-Oshkosh's lone extra-base hit with a two-out double in the first inning.
UW-Whitewater earned the WIAC's automatic bid to the 62-team NCAA Division III Championship with a 4-0 victory over UW-River Falls in the title game.
The NCAA Division III Softball Championship field, which includes 20 at-large bids, will be announced during an online selection show on Monday (May 4) at 9 a.m. at ncaa.com.