Titans Sweep Falcons To Take Early Lead In WIAC Race
All nine UW-Oshkosh starters had at least two hits on the day as the nationally ranked Titans cruised to a doubleheader sweep over UW-River Falls in a battle for first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball standings Sunday (April 10) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
UW-Oshkosh (18-4, 4-0 WIAC), ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, defeated UW-River Falls, 17-0, in five innings during the opener before walking off with a 9-1 victory in six innings during the nightcap.
The Titans, who had 30 total hits Sunday, are now alone in first in the league after sweeping a doubleheader via the eight-run rule in both games against UW-River Falls (13-8, 2-2 WIAC) for the first time since the series began in 1983. UW-Oshkosh's 17 runs during the first contest were its most versus the Falcons, surpassing the previous high of 13 established in the 2010 season. The Titans had won run-rule decisions over UW-River Falls just six times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2018, 2019) previously.
UW-Oshkosh, the defending WIAC co-champion, has now won six of its last seven meetings with UW-River Falls, which fell from a tie for first into a tie for fourth in the league standings with 10 conference games remaining.
Morgan Rau and Hannah Ritter collected five hits apiece to pace the Titans, who also received four hits from Sophie Wery; three hits each from Brianna Davis, Abby Garceau and Ana Iliopoulos; and two from Zoe Malone, Sydney Rau and Grace Stevens.
Every UW-Oshkosh starter also drove in at least one run and scored at least once. Wery had a team-leading four runs batted in Sunday while Ritter and Morgan Rau both scored four runs.
Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, went 5-for-6 at the plate with a double and a pair of walks to extend her on-base streak to 53 consecutive games. Ritter is now hitting a WIAC-best .551 this year, followed by Davis at .500 and Garceau at .477.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitchers Maddie Fink and Sydney Nemetz tossed complete games. Nemetz boasts a 7-0 record this season with a 2.01 earned run average. Fink (7-3), the reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year, recorded her league-high third shutout this season and 10th career during the opener to lower her earned run average to 2.38. Fink also paces the conference with seven complete games.
In the first game of the day, UW-Oshkosh erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the first innings after Fink struck out three during the top half of the frame.
The Titans scored twice in the second inning on Wery's team-leading third home run of the season and tacked on eight more runs during the third frame to take a 17-0 lead.
UW-Oshkosh's seven-run rally in the first inning featured a Wery RBI groundout, run-scoring singles by Sydney Rau and Garceau, an Iliopulos two-run double and a two-run single from Malone.
After Wery, who leads the squad with 28 RBIs, blasted her third home run in the past six days and Fink struck out six through the first two innings, UW-Oshkosh exploded for another eight runs in the third frame, sending 13 batters to the plate.
Garceau and Davis scored on wild pitches to provide the Titans an 11-0 lead. Stevens then delivered a two-run double, Morgan Rau hit an RBI single and Sydney Rau crossed the plate on a UW-River Falls error. Davis later capped the eight-run effort with a two-run single.
Fink went on to retire eight of the final nine Falcons she faced to preserve the shutout. Fink allowed just four hits – all singles – and three walks while striking out a season-high tying eight.
Morgan Rau was 3-for-3 for the Titans. Davis, Garceau, Ritter, Wery and Malone each added two of UW-Oshkosh's season-best 17 hits. Wery drove in three runs while Ritter scored three times.
UW-River Falls starting pitcher Juliana Reynolds (6-3) was charged with the loss, surrendering 10 runs (six earned) on nine hits and two walks across 2.1 total innings during two appearances in the Falcons circle.
During the second contest, UW-Oshkosh broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the bottom of the third inning and invoked the eight-run rule once again with three runs during the sixth frame.
Wery drove in the game's first run with a single to plate Davis in the first inning, but UW-River Falls scored its lone run of the day on Johanna Breyen's grounder that brought home Hannah Richards to tie the game at 1 in the top of the third frame.
Ritter slashed a single through the left side to score Garceau with what proved to be the winning run during the home half of the third inning. Stevens and Sydney Rau added RBI singles of their own ahead of Iliopoulos' bases-loaded walk to extend the UW-Oshkosh lead to 5-1 after three frames.
Garceau's groundout drove in Morgan Rau for a 6-1 advantage during the fifth inning.
The Titans ended the contest an inning later as Morgan Rau smashed a two-run double to bring in Emily Cliver and Lizzie Slobodecki for an 8-1 lead, and Iliopoulos scored Rau with a double of her own.
Nemetz, who retired 12 consecutive Falcons after Richards' leadoff double in the third inning, gave up two hits while striking out four without issuing a walk.
Keegan Piton's two-out single in the first inning accounted for UW-River Falls' other hit during the nightcap. Piton went into the day leading the WIAC with 35 hits and 30 RBIs.
Ritter went 3-for-3 to lead the Titans. Wery, Iliopoulos and Morgan Rau each added a pair of UW-Oshkosh's 13 hits.
UW-River Falls starting pitcher Corinne Roe (2-3) suffered the complete game loss, ceding nine runs (eight earned) on 13 hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Sunday's doubleheader marked the Titans' first games this season at their primary home venue. UW-Oshkosh, which has now played 12 home games, hosted four contests at the Rec Plex Dome and six games at Rec Plex Field.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its 10-game homestand with a nonconference doubleheader against St. Norbert College on Wednesday (April 13) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics