Titans Softball Set for NCAA Tournament
OSHKOSH, Wis.—After receiving an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division III Softball Championships, the UW-Oshkosh Titans are serving as tournament host May 18-20. The Titans will host a four-team double elimination tournament at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park.
Tickets will be cash only for the three-day regional, with adult prices starting at $10. Senior citizens, veterans, and college students are $7 with children aged five to 18 at $3. Children aged five and younger will be free admission to the regional.
The first 100 UW-Oshkosh students will have admission to the games with their UWO student ID, courtesy of Chancellor Leavitt.
More information can be found at the Titans' regional site.
NCAA Tournament History
This will be the Titans tenth appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Titans finished in fifth place in the tournament in 2021. Coach Scott Beyer has taken two other teams (2017 and 2018) to the tournament during his tenure as head coach.
The Titans hold a 19-19 record in the NCAA tournament.
Regional Outlook
The Titans will host Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) (37-4), Luther College (32-8), and UW-Superior (31-11) in the regional. Action starts with UW-Oshkosh taking on Luther College at 1 p.m. on May 18. Concordia University Wisconsin will face against UW-Superior at 3:30 p.m. on May 18.
Action on the second day starts at 11 a.m. with the third game of the regional. A full tournament schedule can be found here.
CUW are the top seed in the region and went 23-0 in their conference. The Falcons of CUW have a batting average of .331 this season and have an ERA of 1.13.
Luther College are the third seed in the regional and went 12-4 in their conference. The Norse of Luther hold a batting average .310 and have an ERA of 2.10.
The UW-Superior are the fourth seed in the tournament and went 17-4 in their conference this season. The Yellowjackets have a batting average of .351 and have an ERA of 4.09.
The Titans dropped out of the top-25 in this week's NFCA poll. The Norse and Falcons both have top-25 rankings.
Looking at the Stats
The Titans have a batting average of. 331 this season and an ERA of 1.66. The Titans are led by Hannah Ritter with a .489 batting average, 66 hits, 29 runs, and 20 RBIs this season. Ritter became the Titans All-Time Career Hits leader on May 12, surpassing Robin Schmidt's record of 196. Ritter is credited with 198 hits in her career, becoming the school leader in just three full seasons.
The Titans have an additional six athletes with a batting average of .300 or above. Brianna Davis (.387), Gabby Buikema (.373), Sydney Rau (.375), Sophie Wery (.368), Abby Garceau (.329), and Zoe Malone (.310). Garceau leads the Titans in runs this season at 37 while Wery is the team leader in doubles (15) and home runs (nine).
Wery leads the WIAC in RBIs and is one of five players in the league to have a fielding percentage of 1.000.
In the pitcher's circle for the Titans, Maddie Fink has an ERA of 1.31 this season. Fink held opposing batters to a batting average of. 195 and the conference in complete games (17) and shutouts at seven. Sydney Nemetz has an ERA of 1.73 this season. Nemetz recorded 10 complete games this season.
Titan Honors
Receiving First Team All-WIAC Honors are Buikema, Maddie Fink, Sydney Nemetz, Ritter, and Wery. Ana Iliopoulos was named to the All-Sportsmanship team for the Titans.
Wery, Davis, and Morgan Rau earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators, formerly CoSIDA, on May 16.