Titans Win, Lose At The Dome In Illinois
UW-Oshkosh's Madelyn Fink pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game of the night as the Titan softball team split a pair of contests Friday (March 6) in Rosemont, Ill.
UW-Oshkosh (3-1) defeated Lake Forest College (Ill.), 4-0, before suffering a 3-2 setback to Buena Vista University (Iowa).
The Titans had won their previous three meetings with Buena Vista University (4-4) by a combined 22-1 score. Lake Forest College (2-1), which appeared in the NCAA Division III Championship a year ago, had won its most recent matchup with UW-Oshkosh, 13-2 in six innings, March 17, 2017.
In the victory over Lake Forest College, Fink struck out seven and walked just one en route to her first shutout as a Titan and lowering her earned run average to 0.54 on the year. She has now given up just seven hits and three walks this season with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.
Fink (2-0), who recorded 15 of her 21 outs on the infield, retired 14 consecutive batters between the third and seventh innings. The only hits Fink allowed were a one-out double in the first inning, a leadoff single in the second frame and a two-out single in the seventh.
The Titans backed Fink's dominant performance with a run in the bottom of the third inning and three insurance runs during the home half of the sixth frame.
Gabby Buikema plated Acacia Tupa with double down the left-field line in the third inning for what proved to be the only run Fink would need. UW-Oshkosh's sixth inning featured a one-out, three-run double from Natalie Dudek.
Hannah Ritter accounted for two of the Titans' six hits. The multiple-hit game was the first of Ritter's career.
Lake Forest College starting pitcher Maddie Webb (0-1) was charged with the loss after yielding four runs (three earned) with one walk and three strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
Riley Frisbie, Brie Gauthier and Shaye Gauthier each had hits for the Foresters.
In the Titans' loss to Buena Vista University, the Beavers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings and held on by despite yielding eight hits and six walks as UW-Oshkosh left 12 runners on base. The Titans had the potential tying run in scoring position during the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Beavers scored once in the bottom of the first inning on a Carlee Guyett RBI single with one out. Buena Vista University's two-run third was highlighted by an RBI single from Carrie Dose before the eventual game-winning run crossed the plate on a wild pitch with one out.
UW-Oshkosh's comeback attempt began with Buikema's infield single that scored Dudek in the top of the fourth inning. The Titans then pulled within 3-2 in the fifth frame following Natalie Dillon's infield single that plated Ritter, who began the inning with a double. Dillon reached second base with two outs, but Beavers starting pitcher Peyton Gross maintained the one-run lead by inducing a flyout to end the inning.
Tupa drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning and went to second base on a Buikema sacrifice bunt. However, a pair of flyouts by UW-Oshkosh once again left the tying run in scoring position.
Dudek laced a ground-rule double with one out in the seventh inning off of Gross, who preserved the win by getting a groundout and a strikeout to end the game.
Gross (3-2) picked up the complete-game win, allowing two runs on eight hits and six walks with five strikeouts.
Seven Beavers had one hit each, including Alyssa Barnhart, who scored twice and stole three bases. Buena Vista University went into Friday leading the country with five stolen bases per game.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Claire Petrus (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on six hits with one strikeout in 2.1 innings. Sidney Budzinski tossed 3.2 scoreless innings on one hit with zero walks and one strikeout in relief of Petrus.
Dillon went 3-for-4 and one RBI to pace UW-Oshkosh. Her three hits tied a career high.
The Titans, who went into the night ranked ninth in the nation with 10.0 runs per game and a .392 batting average, hit a combined .275 in the two games Friday.
UW-Oshkosh plays Buena Vista University and University of Chicago (Ill.) on Sunday (March 8) in Rosemont.