Titans Win WIAC Championship Title, Clinch NCAA Postseason Berth
The UW-Oshkosh softball team is heading to the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship!
Maddie Fink pitched a six-hit shutout to lead UW-Oshkosh to a 4-0 victory over UW-Whitewater in the third and deciding game of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Series (presented by Culver's) on Sunday (May 16) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
UW-Oshkosh (24-11) will learn its NCAA regional opponents and venue during an online selection show Monday (May 17) at noon (CDT). The Titans, who won their second league postseason championship and first since 2008, will be making their ninth trip to the Division III Championship and third in the past five years.
Top-seeded UW-Oshkosh and second-seeded UW-Whitewater (29-10), the conference regular season co-champions, split the first two games of the WIAC Championship Series on Saturday (May 15) in Oshkosh. On Sunday the Titans gave Fink the only run she needed on a two-out single by Morgan Rau that scored Acacia Tupa in the top of the first inning.
Fink, who tossed her WIAC-leading fourth shutout and 13th complete game, did not allow a runner past second base the entire game on the way to winning her seventh consecutive decision.
The Titans tacked on insurance runs during the second, fifth and seventh frames as Gabby Buikema delivered a two-out single that scored Ana Iliopoulos for a 2-0 advantage. Hannah Ritter added a single that scored Amanda Mc Ilhany in the fifth inning before Kailee Garstecki capped the scoring on a sacrifice fly that plated Mc Ilhany once again during the seventh.
Fink gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning but stranded the runner at second base following a flyout to end the frame. Fink limited the Warhawks to just five singles the rest of the way.
UW-Whitewater, which suffered its second shutout loss of the year, went until the seventh inning before advancing another base runner into scoring position after collecting a leadoff single and a two-out single. However, Fink coaxed a routine ground ball to shortstop Natalie Dudek to end the game, preserve the shutout and clinch a bid to the national tournament.
Fink (16-3) yielded a mere six singles and struck out three batters without issuing a walk.
Tupa went 2-for-4 with a stolen base for the Titans while Mc Ilhany walked twice and scored two runs.
Warhawks starting pitcher Kate Cleveland (9-4), the first of four pitchers to enter the UW-Whitewater circle, suffered the loss after allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
Kaleigh O'Brien had two hits for the Warhawks.
Sunday's championship contest was the seventh meeting between UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater this year. The Titans finished the season series with a 4-3 record.
The 48-team Division III Championship commences with first round games May 21 at eight regional sites. Regional champions will then play for the national title May 27-June 1 in Salem, Va.
UW-Oshkosh previously reached the NCAA postseason in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2017 and 2018. The Titans earned regional titles in 1988 and 2017.
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Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics