Titans Chosen To Capture WIAC Softball Championship
UW-Oshkosh is predicted to repeat as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball champion in a poll conducted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 18th in the current National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division poll, is off to a 5-3 start in 2022 nonconference play.
The Titans, who shared last year's WIAC regular season title with UW-Whitewater, went on to secure the 2021 league tournament championship as the top seed en route to sweeping through four games to win the Eau Claire Regional and earn the program's second trip to the eight-team World Series and first since 1988. UW-Oshkosh finished the 2021 season tied for fifth in the country with a 29-13 record after winning its first World Series contest by a 7-1 score over Tufts University (Mass.) in Salem, Va.
This season UW-Oshkosh was voted to finish first in the conference standings, as the Titans are seeking back-to-back WIAC titles for the first time since winning consecutive championships in 1984 and 1985.
The Titans were followed in the WIAC poll by UW-Whitewater in second and UW-Stevens Point in third while UW-Eau Claire is fourth, UW-La Crosse fifth, UW-Platteville sixth, UW-River Falls seventh and UW-Stout eighth.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater (29-10 overall record in 2021) both produced 10-4 WIAC marks last season. UW-Eau Claire (22-17), UW-La Crosse (14-14) and UW-Stevens Point (23-16) tied for third in the conference with 8-6 records while UW-Platteville (17-17) was sixth at 7-7, UW-River Falls seventh at 5-9 and UW-Stout (6-26) eighth at 0-14.
UW-Oshkosh ninth-year head coach Scott Beyer brings back 10 letterwinners from last year's team that secured its fourth WIAC regular season title and second league tournament championship. The Titans earned both conference championships in the same season for the first time last year. Beyer became the 10th WIAC coach to win 200 career games March 4 and owns a 200-97 record at the helm of the Titans.
The 2021 UW-Oshkosh squad set a program record with a .977 fielding percentage – the second best in WIAC history – and boast a .969 fielding percentage through eight games this season.
Hannah Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, and reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year Maddie Fink headline the returning Titans. Ritter, who collected a school-record 67 hits and batted .469 in 2021, is hitting .538 this season and extended her consecutive reached-base streak to 39 games. Fink went 21-5 with a 1.89 earned run average last season and is 2-2 this year with a 1.66 earned run average. Fink's 21 victories a year ago were the second-most by a UW-Oshkosh pitcher.
UW-Oshkosh also brought back letterwinners Gabby Buikema, Emily Cliver, Mia Crotty, Ana Iliopoulos, Zoe Malone, Morgan Rau, Sydney Rau and Grace Stevens.
Joining the 2022 UW-Oshkosh roster are Brianna Davis, Calista Divito, Abby Garceau, Sydney Nemetz, Lizzie Slobodecki and Sophie Wery.
UW-Whitewater welcomes back 15 letterwinners, including a trio of All-WIAC Honorable Mention performers, as it attempts to earn at least a share of its fifth straight conference title. The Warhawks led the league with a 2.43 earned run average and 41 home runs a year ago.
UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point produced the top two offenses in the conference last year, hitting .329 and .323, respectively, in 2021. UW-Stevens Point, which collected a league-leading 83 stolen bases, returns 2021 WIAC Position Player of the Year Maddie Candre in addition to three other All-WIAC performers. UW-Eau Claire, which scored a conference-best 242 runs last season, brings back one All-WIAC First Team player among 15 overall returning letterwinners.
UW-La Crosse returns nine letterwinners from last season while UW-Platteville brings back 11, UW-River Falls 13 and UW-Stout a conference-leading 17.
UW-Oshkosh gets back to competition Monday (March 21), when it begins an eight-game, five-day trip to Clermont, Fla. The Titans, who have won at least 20 games each of the past 17 full seasons, open WIAC play at home April 2 for a doubleheader against UW-La Crosse at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
The Titans also host WIAC doubleheaders against UW-Stout on April 9, UW-River Falls on April 10 and UW-Stevens Point on April 27.
Rounding out UW-Oshkosh's conference slate are a pair of road games at UW-Whitewater on April 15, UW-Eau Claire on April 30 and UW-Platteville for the regular season finale May 1.