Nationally Ranked Titans Open 2022 Softball Season In Minnesota
The nationally ranked and reigning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion UW-Oshkosh softball team begins its quest for a return trip to the NCAA Division III World Series when it opens the 2022 season with a pair of games Saturday (Feb. 26) in Mankato, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh (29-13, 10-4 WIAC in 2021), ranked 12th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III preseason poll, produced one of its most successful campaigns a year ago, sharing the WIAC regular season championship before clinching the league tournament title, sweeping through the Eau Claire Regional as the top seed and earning the first World Series victory in program history.
The Titans, who have made three of the past four NCAA postseasons, ranked sixth in last year's final NFCA poll after defeating Tufts University (Mass.), 7-1, for the school's first World Series win and suffering a pair of 2-1 setbacks at the double-elimination event in Salem, Va. UW-Oshkosh, which secured its fourth WIAC regular season title and second league postseason championship in 2021, now boasts the longest active streak of 20+ win full seasons in the conference at 17 in a row.
UW-Oshkosh begins the 2022 season against four Minnesota institutions, beginning with College of Saint Benedict (26-7) and Gustavus Adolphus College (17-17) on Saturday. The Titans remain in Mankato to face Hamline University (6-22) and Bethany Lutheran College (21-17) on Sunday (Feb. 27). College of Saint Benedict and Bethany Lutheran College both placed second last year in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, respectively.
The Titans' 40-game schedule features 25 contests versus teams that compiled a .500 or better winning percentage in 2021. UW-Oshkosh is set to play four defending conference regular season champions, a pair of teams that advanced to last year's Division III Championship and one program ranked in the NFCA preseason top 25.
UW-Oshkosh conducts its home opener March 5 as part of a two-day, six-team event in the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex. The Titans host Lawrence University (7-17) and Concordia University Wisconsin (31-8) on March 5, and UW-Superior (22-16) and The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) (32-8) on March 6. Concordia University Wisconsin, which sported a nation-leading 11.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season, is the reigning champion of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division. UW-Superior upset UMAC regular season winner The College of St. Scholastica, now a MIAC member, in the league tournament and earned an automatic berth into the 2021 Division III Championship.
The Titans then embark on their annual trip to Florida, where they will play eight games in five days from March 21-25 in Clermont. UW-Oshkosh takes on a majority of the New England Small College Athletic Conference teams in the Sunshine State, including a World Series rematch against seventh-ranked and NESCAC East Division defending champion Tufts University (21-7) on March 25. The Titans will also battle 2021 NESCAC West winner Williams College (Mass.) (12-2) and Grinnell College (Iowa) (9-7) on March 21, Trinity (Conn.) (5-9) and Colby (Maine) (5-9) colleges March 22, Augustana (Ill.) (14-27) and Bates (Maine) (2-10) colleges March 24, and Bowdoin College (Maine) (5-7) on March 25. Bates, Bowdoin, Colby and Trinity colleges are all members of the NESCAC East Division.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's nonconference slate are a home doubleheader against Carroll University (23-21) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park on March 30, a pair of games at Ripon College (5-28) on April 5, and home doubleheaders versus Marian University (23-20) on April 6, St. Norbert College (18-9) on April 13 and Lakeland University (12-23-1) on April 21. St. Norbert College, now a NACC member, was the runner-up in the Midwest Conference North Division a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh commences its 14-game WIAC schedule with a pair of home games against UW-La Crosse (14-14) on April 2. The Titans also host doubleheaders against league rivals UW-Stout (6-26) on April 9, UW-River Falls (11-18) on April 10 and UW-Stevens Point (23-16) on April 27. Completing the Titans' league games are doubleheaders at UW-Whitewater (29-10) on April 15, UW-Eau Claire (22-17) on April 30 and UW-Platteville (17-17) for the regular season finale May 1.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater shared the WIAC regular season championship with 10-4 records last season. The Titans and Warhawks were followed in the league standing by UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point in a tie for third at 8-6; UW-Platteville in sixth at 7-7, UW-River Falls in seventh at 5-9 and UW-Stout in eighth at 0-14.
UW-Oshkosh went on to defeat UW-Whitewater in the best-of-three WIAC Championship Series, including a 4-0 win in the decisive third game in Oshkosh.
UW-Oshkosh ninth-year head coach Scott Beyer welcomes back 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that ranked ninth in the nation with a program-record .977 fielding percentage. Beyer owns a 195-94 record at the helm of the Titans, who also won the 2017 La Crosse Regional title and reached the 2018 NCAA postseason. Beyer, along with assistants Alyssa Doomis and Kaitlyn Krol, were voted the 2021 WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
Hannah Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, and reigning WIAC Pitcher of Year Maddie Fink headline the returning Titans. Ritter led UW-Oshkosh last season with a .469 batting average, a .497 on-base percentage, a .566 slugging percentage, a school-record 67 hits, 11 doubles, 25 runs batted in and 81 total bases. Ritter's batting average was fourth-best in program history.
Fink, who pitched every inning of the last eight games during UW-Oshkosh's remarkable run to the World Series, went 21-5 with a 1.89 earned run average, two saves, 20 complete games, six shutouts and 123 strikeouts in 170.1 innings. Fink's 21 wins were the second-most by a Titan.
UW-Oshkosh also brings back letterwinners Gabby Buikema, Emily Cliver, Mia Crotty, Ana Iliopoulos, Zoe Malone, Morgan Rau, Sydney Rau and Grace Stevens.
Crotty was second on the team a year ago with four wins and 66.2 innings in the Titans pitcher's circle while Cliver batted .310 with nine doubles, Buikema got on base at a .359 clip, Morgan Rau hit a team-leading four home runs and drove in 20 runs, and Iliopoulos scored 18 runs and drove in another 18.
UW-Oshkosh clinched WIAC regular season titles in 1984, 1985, 2007 and 2021 in addition to league tournament championships in 2008 and 2021. The Titans, who made World Series trips in 1988 and 2021, were the winners of the UW-La Crosse Regional in 2017 before appearing in the 2018 NCAA postseason.