Titans Sweep Warhawks In WIAC, Home Debut
The UW-Oshkosh softball team won in walk-off fashion during the opener and came from behind again in the second contest to complete a doubleheader sweep over UW-Whitewater on Thursday (April 15) at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
UW-Oshkosh scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stun the Warhawks, 5-4, during the Titans' home and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. Then in the nightcap the Titans erupted for a seven-run fifth inning to pull away for a 9-4 victory.
The Titans, playing at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park for the first time since April 26, 2019, earned their first doubleheader sweep over UW-Whitewater since 2013. UW-Oshkosh has now won four straight games against the Warhawks, including a 7-2 decision in their most recent meeting during the second round of the 2019 WIAC Championship.
Maddie Fink was the winning pitcher in both games Thursday, tossing a complete game during the opener and firing 2.2 scoreless innings of relief in the second game, to improve her record to 6-1 on the year. Fink, who registered her WIAC-best fifth complete game in the opener, struck out six and allowed just eight total hits across two appearances.
UW-Oshkosh (10-4, 2-0 WIAC) pounded out 25 hits Thursday, including 10 during its seven-run barrage in the fifth inning of the nightcap. Hannah Ritter, hitting a team-leading .490 this season, and Acacia Tupa led the way for the Titans with four hits apiece on the day while Natalie Dudek and Chloe Lambie both added three.
The Titans defense, which ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III with a .980 fielding percentage entering Thursday, committed just two errors on the day and held the potent Warhawks, who committed five errors defensively, to 16 total hits in the two games.
In Thursday's first game, UW-Whitewater catcher Nikki Mikosz hit a pair of home runs – a two-run shot in the second inning and a solo blast during the fifth frame – to stake the Warhawks to a 3-1 lead.
UW-Whitewater (11-7, 1-3 WIAC), which had won eight of its previous nine games, added another run later during the fifth inning for a 4-1 advantage before Kailee Garstecki pulled the Titans within 4-2 with a groundout that plated Gabby Buikema in the home half of the fifth frame.
Fink pitched out of a jam in the top of the sixth inning, stranding Warhawk runners at the corners by making a spectacular tumbling catch on a popup between third base and home plate to end the threat and keep the UW-Oshkosh deficit at two runs. Fink then left a UW-Whitewater baserunner in scoring position during the seventh frame by inducing a pair of groundouts.
UW-Oshkosh's fateful three-run seventh inning began with a one-out single from Dudek. Claire Petrus followed with a single of her own to bring up Amanda Mc Ilhany, who laced a triple down the right field line to score Dudek and Petrus with the tying runs. Morgan Rau drew a walk to put Titans at first and third bases with one out for Chloe Lambie, who hit a bouncing ball to Warhawks third baseman Meg Cohrs. Cohrs looked back at Mc Ilhany at third base and fired to first to retire Lambie, but Mc Ilhany bounded for home on Cohrs' throw and slid safely at the plate with the winning run just ahead of the tag by Mikosz on the relay throw by UW-Whitewater first baseman Kaleigh O'Brien.
Buikema, Dudek, Rau and Ritter each produced two of the Titans' 12 hits. Buikema also scored a pair of runs.
Fink went the distance in the Titan pitcher's circle, ceding four runs on six hits in seven innings. She walked four and struck out five.
UW-Whitewater staring pitcher Kate Cleveland (4-3) suffered the loss, yielding five runs (four earned) on 12 hits and one walk with four strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
During the second game of the day, UW-Whitewater was once again cruising with a 4-2 lead after four innings until the Titans had their second-highest scoring inning of the season during the fifth frame.
Tupa began the decisive Titan fifth inning with a bunt single. Lambie and Ritter followed with run-scoring doubles to tie the score at 4 before Dudek and Garstecki hit back-to-back singles. Garstecki's single to left field scored pinch-runner Sydney Rau with what turned out to be the winning run and a 5-4 advantage.
Morgan Rau's sacrifice bunt advanced Dudek and Garstecki into scoring position with one out for Emily Cliver, who lofted a single to left field that scored Dudek. With two outs and two runners aboard, Petrus, Tupa, Lambie and Ritter continued the outburst with consecutive singles to extend the UW-Oshkosh lead to 9-4 during an inning in which the Titans sent 13 batters to the plate.
Tupa finished the nightcap 3-for-4 for UW-Oshkosh while Garstecki, Lambie and Ritter each added two of the team's 13 hits.
Fink pitched the final 2.2 innings to pick up her second victory of the day, holding UW-Whitewater to a pair of hits and a walk with one strikeout that concluded the doubleheader. Fink came on in relief of starting pitcher Mia Crotty, who gave up four runs on eight hits and one walk across the first 4.1 innings.
Warhawks starting pitcher Rhiann Dick (3-3), the first of four UW-Whitewater pitchers during the second game, suffered the loss after ceding five runs in four innings.
Kennedy Cox went 3-for-4 for UW-Whitewater, which also received two hits and two runs batted in from Krista Sbarra.
Thursday's games were originally scheduled to be played Saturday (April 10) but were postponed due to weather. UW-Oshkosh also had two other doubleheaders postponed over the prior seven days, resulting in a nine-day layoff between games.
UW-Oshkosh remains at home to host UW-Eau Claire for a conference doubleheader Saturday (April 17).
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics