Titans Post Five-Inning Victories Over Red Hawks
Maddie Fink pitched a one-hit shutout in the opener and the offense produced 23 hits on the day as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball team swept a nonconference doubleheader against Ripon College on Tuesday (April 5) at UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Field.
UW-Oshkosh (12-4), ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, defeated Ripon College by scores of 11-0 behind Fink's gem in the pitcher's circle and 10-2 during the nightcap. Both games were halted in the fifth inning due to the eight-run rule.
The Titans have now won 10 consecutive meetings with Ripon College, outscoring the Red Hawks, 94-6, during the span. Tuesday's games were the first of 10 straight home contests for UW-Oshkosh.
UW-Oshkosh pounded out seven extra-base hits and walked 10 times against Ripon College en route to compiling a .479 batting average on the day to go along with a .559 on-base percentage and a .646 slugging percentage.
Abby Garceau went a combined 7-for-8 at the plate for the Titans with a double, four runs scored and two runs batted in. Garceau's nearly perfect day upped her batting average to .488 this season.
Emily Cliver accounted for three of UW-Oshkosh's five doubles against the Red Hawks and drove in a pair of runs during both contests.
UW-Oshkosh's Sophie Wery launched a grand slam well beyond the left field wall in the nightcap for her first collegiate home run while Hannah Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, had four hits, including a double, walked twice and had three RBIs Tuesday to extend her on-base streak to 47 straight games.
In the first game of the day, Fink allowed just a two-out double in the second inning on the way to notching her second shutout of the season and ninth career.
Fink (5-3), the reigning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, did not issue a walk and struck out two batters to lower her season earned run average to a team-leading 2.04. Fink faced only four batters the entire game with a runner on base, pitching around a one-out error in the top of the fourth inning and a two-out error during the fifth frame.
UW-Oshkosh erupted for eight runs in the home half of the second inning. The Titans, who sent 13 batters to the plate during the onslaught, gave Fink the only run she needed when Grace Stevens led off the inning with a double and scored two batters later on Cliver's ground-rule double.
The Titans tacked on seven more insurance runs in the second-inning rally as Ana Iliopoulos lifted a sacrifice fly to score Sydney Rau. Gabby Buikema then singled home Cliver, Ritter drew a bases-loaded walk to score Buikema, Wery drove in both Garceau and Brianna Davis with a single, Rau's grounder scored Ritter and Cliver doubled again to bring home Wery.
UW-Oshkosh capped the game's scoring with a run in the third inning and two more during the fourth. Ritter ripped an RBI double to score Garceau for a 9-0 UW-Oshkosh lead before the fourth inning featured a Davis walk with the bases loaded to plate Calista Divito and Ritter's RBI single that drove in Buikema.
Ritter went 3-for-3 with a double, walk and three runs batted in. Garceau also added three of UW-Oshkosh's 13 hits and scored twice while Cliver was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI doubles. Davis, who entered the day 13th in the country with a .543 batting average, was 1-for-2 with two walks, one run and one RBI.
Ripon College starting pitcher Savanna Trittelwitz (2-7) suffered the loss, surrendering seven runs (five earned) on five hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.
During the second contest, UW-Oshkosh put the game away early with three runs in the first inning, four more during the second and two in the third for a 9-1 lead.
Ripon College (2-16) cut its deficit to 9-2 with a run in the top of the fourth inning and held the Titans scoreless during the bottom half of the frame, but UW-Oshkosh invoked the eight-run rule in the fifth on Rau's sharp single through the right side that scored Iliopoulos standing with the walk-off run.
Garceau began her 4-for-4 performance during the nightcap with a single to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Garceau eventually crossed the plate on a two-out Stevens single. Cliver followed with her third double of the day that scored both Ritter and Stevens for a 3-0 UW-Oshkosh advantage after one inning.
After Ripon College tallied its first run of the doubleheader on a wild pitch in the top of the second inning, UW-Oshkosh answered with four runs during the bottom half of the frame on Wery's towering home run with two outs that drove in Garceau, Rau and Ritter. Wery's home run was the second by a Titan this season and first since Rau's two-run shot during the second game of the year on Feb. 26.
Garceau delivered a two-run double in the third inning to score Iliopoulos and Zoe Malone for a 9-1 lead, but the Red Hawks briefly staved off the eight-run rule by scratching across a run on Claire Luebke's infield single.
Iliopoulos led off the Titans fifth inning with a walk, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and reached third base following Garceau's fourth single of the game. Rau then smacked a single to score Iliopoulos easily and conclude the contest.
UW-Oshkosh's Sydney Nemetz went the distance in the pitcher's circle, improving to 4-0 this season after allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in five innings. Nemetz, who owns a 2.24 earned run average on the year, has struck out a season-high seven batters in both of her past two starts.
The Titans outhit the Red Hawks, 10-6, in the nightcap. Maddie Hablewitz and Lexzie Hassemer both had two hits for Ripon College.
Ripon College starting pitcher Brennah Bronk (0-3) was charged with the loss after ceding nine runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks across the first three innings.
Tuesday's games were originally scheduled to be played at Ripon College. However, the Red Hawks were forced to delay their home opener and move the contests to the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Field due to field conditions in Ripon. The Titans' primary home facility – UW-Oshkosh Softball Park – was also unavailable Tuesday due to field conditions.
UW-Oshkosh hosts Marian University for a Wednesday (April 6) nonconference doubleheader at UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Field.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics