Titans Win A Pair Of One-Run Games Over Pointers
Morgan Rau delivered a walk-off single in the opener, Hannah Ritter hit a home run during the nightcap and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball team pulled out a pair of one-run victories over UW-Stevens Point to remain in contention for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship Wednesday (April 27) at UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
Reining league co-champion UW-Oshkosh (22-6, 8-2 WIAC) stunned UW-Stevens Point, 3-2, on Rau's two-out, two run single in the bottom of the seventh inning before holding on for a 6-5 win during the second contest. Sydney Nemetz was the winning pitcher in both ends of the doubleheader, improving her season record to 10-0.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, stays one game behind league frontrunner UW-La Crosse (21-8, 9-1 WIAC) with four conference road games left. Last season the Titans shared the regular season WIAC title with UW-Whitewater, and won both the conference tournament and the Eau Claire Regional as the top seed en route to reaching the Division III World Series.
UW-Stevens Point (16-16, 1-9 WIAC), which remains eighth in the league standings, has now lost 13 consecutive games to the Titans in Oshkosh and five of the last six meetings in the series overall. The Pointers last beat the Titans in Oshkosh on April 26, 2006.
Ritter went 4-for-4 at the plate on the day, drawing three walks while scoring twice, driving in two runs and hitting her first home run of the year. Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American who went into Wednesday leading the WIAC in batting average, hits and on-base percentage, is now batting .562 this season with 50 hits and a .614 on-base percentage. She entered the day ranked sixth nationally in batting average.
In Wednesday's first game, UW-Stevens Point was cruising along with a 2-0 lead and limiting UW-Oshkosh's top offense in the conference to just five hits through six innings. The Titans headed into the day pacing the league in scoring, batting average and on-base percentage in addition to fielding percentage and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Pointers scored on an Emmie Cibrario double for a 1-0 advantage in the top of the second inning and increased their lead to 2-0 on a Makenna Tkach sacrifice fly during the fourth frame against 2021 WIAC Pitcher of the Year Maddie Fink.
UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Abby Van Beek and reliever Tkach combined to not allow a Titan past second base for the first six innings, but UW-Oshkosh's potent offense responded during the home half of the seventh frame as Gabby Buikema led off with a double against Tkach – making her second relief appearance of the game to open the decisive seventh – and advanced to third base on Zoe Malone's bunt single.
Tkach uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Buikema to cross the plate and break up the shutout while Malone moved up to second base. Abby Garceau walked to put Titans at first and second bases to end Tkach's second trip in the circle.
Van Beek reentered the UW-Stevens Point pitcher's circle and got the first out of the inning on a Brianna Davis sacrifice bunt. With a pair of runners in scoring position, the Pointers elected to walk Ritter intentionally to load the bases. Van Beek notched a strikeout to put UW-Stevens Point on the brink of ending its long losing streak to the Titans in Oshkosh. However, Rau laced a single into left field that scored Malone easily from third base to tie the score and Garceau with the winning run following a head-first dive into the plate.
Rau's heroics made a winner out of Nemetz, who tossed two innings of scoreless relief. Nemetz got three consecutive outs during the sixth inning after inheriting a runner at first base and no outs. Nemetz then worked around a leadoff single and a one-out double in the seventh inning to by inducing another pair of outs on the infield to keep the deficit at 2-0.
Buikema accounted for two of the Titans' eight hits. Ritter singled and walked three times during the opener.
Fink did not factor in the decision despite holding the Pointers to two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts across five-plus innings.
Van Beek (9-10) was charged with the loss, surrendering three runs on four hits and two walks with one strikeout in two total innings across two stints in the pitcher's circle. Van Beek went into the day leading the conference in wins.
Tkach did not allow a run in 4.2 innings during two pitching appearances, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out three.
Meg Lawrence was 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored to pace UW-Stevens Point.
During the nightcap, UW-Oshkosh built a 6-0 lead after two innings but had to stave off a UW-Stevens Point comeback attempt.
The Titans scored five times in the bottom of the first inning following RBIs from Ritter, Garceau and Calista Divito in addition to runs via a wild pitch and a passed ball against UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Mackenzie Honish.
Tkach, making her third relief appearance for UW-Stevens Point, later served up Ritter's line drive solo home run to right field for a 6-0 UW-Oshkosh advantage during the home half of the second frame.
Tkach did not allow a run the rest of the way as UW-Stevens Point chipped away at the deficit with three runs during the third inning and one in the fourth before the Pointers pulled within 6-5 on Becca Geiyer's RBI single during the fifth frame.
UW-Stevens Point had the tying run at first base with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, but Nemetz got Lawrence to line out to Garceau at second base to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Nemetz, who didn't allow an earned run in 5.2 total innings over a pair of relief stints Wednesday, held the Pointers to an unearned run on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts across 3.2 innings during the nightcap. With her 10th victory of the season, Nemetz replaced UW-Stevens Point's Van Beek as the conference leader.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Mia Crotty, who entered the day pacing the league in the ratio of walks and hits per inning pitched, went the first 3.1 innings and exited the game with a 6-4 lead after giving up a mere two earned runs.
Ritter went 3-for-3 for the Titans while Van Beek and Allie Meyers had two hits apiece for the Pointers during the second contest.
Honish (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing five runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks in 0.2 innings.
UW-Oshkosh, which wrapped up the home portion of its regular season schedule Wednesday, plays a WIAC doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (April 30).
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics