Titans Drop A Pair Of One-Run Results To Eagles
UW-Oshkosh's Abby Garceau and Hannah Ritter combined for 11 hits on the day, but UW-La Crosse ascended into first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball standings with a pair of one-run wins over the nationally ranked Titans on Tuesday (April 19) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
UW-La Crosse (17-8, 5-1 WIAC) scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to win the opener, 5-4, before slipping past UW-Oshkosh by a 10-9 score in nine innings during the nightcap following a decisive solo home run from Hannah Lalk with two outs in the top of the final frame.
The teams produced 28 runs and 43 hits in a matchup that pitted the top two pitching staffs in the conference. UW-La Crosse went into Tuesday with a WIAC-leading 2.07 earned run average and UW-Oshkosh followed at 2.08. The Titans headed into the clash for first place pacing the league with a .346 batting average and the Eagles were leading the WIAC with 16 home runs. UW-La Crosse collected 21 hits and batted .318 Tuesday while UW-Oshkosh had 22 hits, including double digits in both games, and batted .301 during the doubleheader.
UW-Oshkosh (20-6, 6-2 WIAC), ranked 11th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, falls from first to second in the conference standings while UW-La Crosse moves one game ahead of the Titans.
The Titans went into the day riding a 10-game winning streak en route to matching the second best overall season start in program history. UW-Oshkosh, which has won 16 of its last 19 contests, shared the WIAC regular season championship and won the league postseason tournament a year ago on the way to reaching the Division III World Series. The Titans' 10-game winning streak was tied for the fifth longest in school history.
Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, went 4-for-4 during the first game Tuesday and added a pair of hits for the Titans during the nightcap to extend her on-base streak to 57 consecutive contests. Garceau had one hit in the first game before going 4-for-6 during the second contest.
In the first game of the day, UW-Oshkosh claimed leads of 2-0 in the third inning and 4-2 after four frames until UW-La Crosse responded with its three-run sixth inning.
Sophie Wery broke open a scoreless contest with a two-run homer down the left field line for a 2-0 UW-Oshkosh advantage in the third inning. Ritter later scored both Garceau and Sydney Rau on a single up the middle for a 4-2 UW-Oshkosh edge. Ritter now leads the WIAC with a .541 batting average, 46 hits and a .585 on-base percentage.
UW-La Crosse got a run-scoring Jordyn McCormack single to pull within 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning. The Eagles tied the score at 4 on Hailey Jibben's sacrifice fly and tallied what proved to be the winning run on a groundout off the bat of Madi O'Brien.
Ritter produced her fourth single of the opener with one out in the home half of the seventh inning to bring the winning run to the plate. However, UW-La Crosse relief pitcher Remington Stark stuck out the next two batters to preserve the victory.
Stark (5-2) earned the win, allowing just one hit and striking out six without issuing a walk over the final three innings in relief of UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Elise Weinzierl, who yielded four runs (two earned) across the first four frames.
Kendra Leis, who scored the winning run without a throw, accounted for two of UW-La Crosse's six hits. Jibben finished with three runs batted in for the Eagles.
Sydney Rau had two of UW-Oshkosh's hits. Wery's home run was her team-leading fourth on the year.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Maddie Fink (8-4) was charged with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Fink, the reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year, had won her previous four decisions.
During the nightcap UW-Oshkosh answered UW-La Crosse's four-run first inning with five runs of its own in the bottom of the third inning. The Titans once again reclaimed the lead at 8-5 following a three-run fifth inning, but the Eagles responded with four runs during top of the sixth frame.
UW-Oshkosh tied the score at 9 with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Titans loaded the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout for the first out, Ritter appeared to reach first base safely and reload the bases on a throwing error by the Eagles. However, UW-La Crosse second baseman Emily Knight was ruled to have tagged out Garceau running from first to second base before Knight's throw to the plate short-hopped the Eagles catcher and allowed Ana Iliopoulos to score the tying run.
With two outs and runners at the corners instead of the bases loaded with Titans and one out, the Eagles' Weinzierl – in the UW-La Crosse circle in relief – escaped the jam by inducing a groundout to send the game to extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Lalk launched a home run deep to left field with two outs in the ninth inning to put the Eagles back in front. Garceau singled with two outs for the Titans during the home half of the frame, but Weinzierl got another groundout to end the game.
Weinzierl (7-2), the fourth UW-La Crosse pitcher of the nightcap, earned the victory by holding the Titans to one unearned run on three hits and zero walks with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings. All four UW-La Crosse pitchers surrendered at least one run in the second contest. Weinzierl, who did not issue a walk and struck out nine batters in two appearances during the doubleheader, entered the day leading the conference with a 5.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The top three hitters in the UW-La Crosse order combined to go 9-for-15 with six runs scored and six RBIs during the second game as leadoff batter Krya Lard had four hits and two runs batted in, Leis three hits and three RBIs, and McCormack two hits and one run batted in. Lard, Leis and McCormack each scored twice.
Ritter, Emily Cliver and Zoe Malone all had two hits for the Titans. Both of Cliver's hits were doubles. Iliopoulos drove in three runs and scored twice.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Mia Crotty (4-2) suffered the loss, ceding two runs on four hits and zero walks with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings in relief of Sydney Nemetz.
The Titans remain at home to host a nonconference doubleheader against Lakeland University on Thursday (April 21) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics