Ritter Receives All-America Third Team Honors
UW-Oshkosh freshman catcher Hannah Ritter was named a 2021 NCAA Division III All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Ritter, voted to the Third Team as an at-large selection, becomes the sixth player in program history to earn NFCA All-America honors, joining former Titans Nila Gruenwald (1985 Third Team), Jaime Ziegel (1987 Second Team), Jane Morgan (1988 Second Team), Ronessa Stampfli (2007 First Team) and Whitney Tornow (2009 Second Team, 2010 First Team).
An NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honoree, Ritter leads UW-Oshkosh with a .470 batting average, 63 hits, 11 doubles, 24 runs batted in, 77 total bases, a .575 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage while starting each of the Titans' 39 games this season. Ritter's batting average is currently tied for third in UW-Oshkosh history and best by a Titan since Tornow batted .482 in 2009.
Ritter and the Titans clinched a Division III World Series berth by winning the Eau Claire Regional with four straight victories by a combined 20-3 score, including a 6-1 decision over Piedmont College (Ga.) in the title game. Eighth-seeded UW-Oshkosh opens the World Series at 10 a.m. Thursday (May 27) in Salem, Va., against top-ranked and top-seeded DePauw University (Ind.). UW-Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season co-champion, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA postseason after claiming the league's postseason tournament title.
Ritter, who has reached base safely in 28 consecutive games, went 5-for-11 at the plate with three runs scored and three runs batted in at the Eau Claire Regional. Ritter has 21 multiple-hit games on the year, including four three-hit efforts and three 4-for-4 performances.
Ritter, an All-WIAC First Team selection, went 3-for-3 with a home run and a season-best four RBIs during a 10-2 win over UW-Stevens Point on May 4. She was 4-for-4 at Concordia University Wisconsin on March 26, versus UW-Platteville on April 20 and at UW-Whitewater on April 28.
The NFCA All-America Team featured 18 players on the First and Second Teams and a 19-member Third Team.
UW-Oshkosh (28-11) won its fourth WIAC regular season championship and first since 2007 before earning its second league tournament title (2008). The Titans secured a regional championship for the third time and first since 2017, earning their second World Series trip (1988) in the process.