Titans To Host WIAC Championship Final After Win Over Pioneers
UW-Oshkosh secured a spot in the best-of-three final series at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Championship (presented by Culver's) with a 3-1 victory over UW-Platteville during the semifinal round Thursday (May 13) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
The Titans supported starting pitcher Maddie Fink's dominant outing by scoring all three of their runs and collecting each of their four hits in the bottom of the fourth inning.
WIAC regular season co-champion and top-seeded UW-Oshkosh (22-10) advances to host fellow co-champion and second-seeded UW-Whitewater (28-8) in the best-of-three championship series that will determine the league's automatic berth into the 48-team NCAA Division III Championship that commences May 20-21. UW-Whitewater won its semifinal home game, 2-1, on a walk-off home run in the eighth inning against fourth-seeded UW-Stevens Point (23-16) on Thursday.
The Titans and UW-Whitewater open the conference championship series with a pair of games Saturday (May 15) beginning at noon at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park. If necessary, the third and final contest is scheduled for Sunday (May 16) at noon in Oshkosh.
Held without a baserunner and trailing 1-0 through three innings, UW-Oshkosh broke through against UW-Platteville starting pitcher Ashton Hoeppner with a leadoff walk by Acacia Tupa during the decisive fourth frame. Tupa stole second base and reached third after a double from Natalie Dillon. A wild pitch allowed Tupa to score the tying run, and Hannah Ritter followed with a single that plated Dillon with the go-ahead tally.
A Pioneers error and a one-out single from Amanda Mc Ilhany loaded the bases for Natalie Dudek, who smacked a single to center field to score Ritter for a 3-1 UW-Oshkosh cushion. The Titans were held to one baserunner – a one-out walk during the home half of the sixth inning – following their fourth-inning outburst.
Fink was phenomenal in the UW-Oshkosh pitcher's circle, limiting the Pioneers to just three hits the rest of the way after giving up a two-out solo home run to Shannon Gaul in the top of the first inning. Fink rebounded from the homer to set down the next eight batters and did not allow a runner past second base over the final 6.1 frames.
Sixth-seeded UW-Platteville (17-17) threatened in the fifth inning, connecting for a pair of two-out singles, but Fink notched one of her seven strikeouts to escape the jam and preserve the two-run lead. The strikeout was the first of seven straight batters Fink retired to close out her WIAC-leading 11th complete game on the year.
Fink (14-3), who has won her last five decisions, yielded just five baserunners the entire game, including one via a walk. UW-Oshkosh, ranked seventh in the country with a .977 fielding percentage, turned in its 14th errorfree performance of the season that featured fine catches by Tupa and Gabby Buikema in the outfield, and a Dudek diving stop and throw from the knees to nab a runner at first base.
Hoeppner (7-10) suffered the complete-game loss for UW-Platteville despite allowing just two earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts.
Gaul went 2-for-4 to pace the Pioneers.
UW-Oshkosh, seeking its second WIAC postseason title and first since 2008, will battle UW-Whitewater in the final for the second time in four years. The Titans, making their ninth trip to the league tournament championship game, fell to UW-Whitewater by a 6-5 score in the 2018 title contest.
UW-Whitewater has won a league-record 10 WIAC Championship titles, including six consecutive from 2013-18. The Warhawks enter Saturday on a 12-game winning streak.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater exchanged a pair of doubleheader sweeps in the 2021 regular season. The Titans, 9-1 at home this year, defeated the Warhawks twice in WIAC play April 15 at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park. UW-Whitewater then swept a nonconference doubleheader from UW-Oshkosh in Whitewater on April 28.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics