Titans Exchange 2-1 Decisions With Nationally Ranked Pioneers
Amanda Mc Ilhany drove in the winning run on a squeeze bunt in the fourth inning of the nightcap as the UW-Oshkosh softball team exchanged a pair of 2-1 victories at nationally ranked Carroll University on Saturday (March 20) in Waukesha.
Titans starting pitcher Mia Crotty (2-0) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning during the second contest as UW-Oshkosh (3-1) handed Carroll University (3-1) its first loss of the season. The Pioneers entered Saturday's doubleheader ranked 25th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Carroll University won the opener in 10 innings, answering the Titans' run in the top of the last frame with two runs of its own to end a game that lasted two hours, 26 minutes.
During the nightcap Carroll University, which had its program record 13-game winning streak snapped, scored in the bottom half of the second inning on a single from Anna Wimmer that plated Allyssa Demma with two outs. The Pioneer tally was the first and only earned run the UW-Oshkosh pitching staff, which now boasts a 0.23 earned run average, has allowed this year.
UW-Oshkosh tied the score at 1 in the top of the third inning on Hannah Ritter's two-out, run-scoring single up the middle that plated Acacia Tupa. After Crotty retired the Pioneers in order in the bottom of the third frame, Chloe Lambie led off the fateful Titans fourth inning with a double down the left field line. A Sydney Rau groundout advanced Lambie to third base with one out for Mc Ilhany, who followed with a bunt that allowed Lambie to score.
Crotty did not allow a runner in scoring position from the third through sixth innings, but the Pioneers mounted a rally with two outs in the last of the seventh frame on a pair of singles and a hit batter. However, Crotty induced a popup to shortstop Natalie Dudek to end the game.
The win marked the Titans' first over a nationally ranked opponent since a 7-2 triumph at 23rd-ranked UW-Whitewater during the second round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship on May 3, 2019.
Crotty limited the Pioneers to six hits – all singles – and one walk with three strikeouts on just 69 pitches during the complete game win.
Pioneers starting pitcher Breanna Roberts was charged with the loss, yielding two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk across four innings.
Wimmer had two hits for the Pioneers.
In the opener UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Maddie Fink and counterpart Amanda Osterhus were locked in a scoreless battle until the top of the 10th inning.
With the winning run at third base for Carroll University with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lambie made a diving catch in left field on a sinking liner off the bat of Sydney Raddeman to send the game into the 10th frame.
Lambie then laced a one-out single up the middle in the top of the 10th inning to score Mc Ilhany with the game's first run, but the Titans left runners at the corners as Pioneers relief pitcher Grace Bradley (2-0) got the only batter she faced to ground out to end the frame.
Raddeman, who was placed at second base under the international rule in extra innings, advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt to open the home half of the 10th inning. Pioneers leadoff hitter Lauren Harshbarger followed with a bunt back to Fink in the pitcher's circle, and Fink flipped the ball with her glove beyond the reach of Ritter, the Titans catcher, allowing Harshbarger to reach second base with one out. A passed ball moved Harshbarger to third base for Sierra Grubor, who scored Harshbarger for the winning run on a single up the middle.
Fink (1-1) suffered the loss despite not surrendering an earned run on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched.
Dudek, Lambie and Mc Ilhany accounted for the Titans' three hits.
Carroll University's Osterhus allowed one unearned run on three hits and three walks with 15 strikeouts but did not factor in the decision.
Grubor and Claudia Spencer both went 2-for-4 to pace the Pioneers.
UW-Oshkosh plays a doubleheader at Marian University on Monday (March 22).