Titans Rout Pioneers Twice
The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball team pounded out 36 hits en route to sweeping a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at UW-Platteville on Sunday (May 1).
UW-Oshkosh (24-6, 10-2 WIAC), ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, invoked the eight-run in both contests, routing the Pioneers by scores of 11-0 in five innings during the opener before winning the nightcap, 13-2, in six innings. The Titans swept both ends of a doubleheader via the run-rule against UW-Platteville for the first time in program history.
With the wins UW-Oshkosh remains alone in second place in the WIAC standings, one game behind UW-La Crosse (23-8, 11-1 WIAC), with two league contests remaining. The Titans, seeking back-to-back conference regular season championships for the first time, shared the WIAC 2021 regular season title before clinching both the league postseason and Eau Regional crowns, and reaching the World Series.
UW-Oshkosh collected a season-high 19 hits in the first game Sunday and 17 during the nightcap on the way to producing a .546 batting average against UW-Platteville.
Eight different Titans had at least one hit in both games as Abby Garceau went a combined 7-for-9 at the plate from atop the UW-Oshkosh batting order. Brianna Davis was 6-for-8 during the doubleheader for the Titans while Ana Iliopoulos went 5-for-7, Emily Cliver 4-for-5, Hannah Ritter 4-for-8, Sophie Wery 3-for-6, Gabby Buikema 3-for-7 and Morgan Rau 2-for-5.
Wery had a team-leading eight runs batted in Sunday, including seven – one shy of tying the UW-Oshkosh record – during the second contest on a three-run triple and a grand slam.
Ritter, a 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American, went into the day ranked second in the country in batting average and third in on-base percentage. Ritter, who extended her on-base streak to 64 consecutive games, is now hitting a WIAC-best .557 this season and getting on base at a .606 clip.
Garceau and Davis upped their season batting averages to .468 and .425, respectively, for a UW-Oshkosh squad that entered Sunday pacing the WIAC in scoring, batting average, on-base percentage and fielding percentage. The Titans committed just one error on the day.
UW-Platteville (12-18, 4-8 WIAC) fell one spot into sixth place in the WIAC standings. The top five teams qualify for the conference tournament that commences Friday (May 6). The Pioneers, who were ousted by the Titans in the 2021 WIAC Tournament semifinals, have lost six of their last seven meetings with UW-Oshkosh.
In Sunday's first game, UW-Oshkosh scored in each of the five innings in support of starting pitcher Maddie Fink. Fink, the reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year, tossed a three-hit shutout to improve her record to 9-4 this year.
UW-Oshkosh provided Fink the only run she required on Cliver's sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning that scored Garceau. The Titans later added five more runs in the second inning, three runs during the third and one in both the fourth and fifth frames.
Garceau finished the opener 4-for-4 with three runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases.
Davis went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs. Cliver, Iliopoulos and Ritter each added two hits and two RBIs. Buikema also chipped in two hits while scoring twice. Cliver's RBI double in the top of the third inning extended the Titans' lead to 9-0. Iliopoulos lifted a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring in the fifth frame.
Fink produced her WIAC-best fifth shutout of the season, limiting the Pioneers to just one double, a pair of singles and three walks with six strikeouts across five innings.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher McKenna Rommel (2-8) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits in one inning.
During the nightcap, UW-Oshkosh once again jumped out to an early lead with a three-run first inning before invoking the eight-run rule with five runs in the top of the sixth frame.
Wery began her seven-RBI effort with a bases-loaded triple in the first inning. Wery later blasted a grand slam down the left field line for a 12-2 UW-Oshkosh advantage during the sixth frame to extend her team-best totals to five home runs and 38 RBIs.
Garceau, Davis and Iliopoulos each had three of the Titans' 17 hits. Cliver and Ritter both had a pair of hits and scored three runs. Davis, Iliopoulos, Garceau, Buikema and Rau all chipped in RBIs.
Sydney Nemetz earned the win in relief for the Titans, tossing three scoreless innings. Nemetz gave up three hits, did not issue a walk and struck out three on the way to improving her record to 11-0.
Nemetz, the WIAC leader in victories, relieved starting pitcher Mia Crotty, who exited after holding the Pioneers to two runs on three hits during the first three innings. Crotty walked one and struck out one.
UW-Platteville starting pitcher Claire Bakkestuen (4-7) was charged with the loss, ceding 12 runs on 14 hits and four walks with five strikeouts in five innings. Bakkestuen, who drove in both UW-Platteville runs on a third-inning double, went into the day leading the conference with 89 strikeouts in the pitcher's circle.
UW-Oshkosh concludes the regular season with a WIAC doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire on Monday (May 2).