Titans Hold Off Late Charge From Norse
OSHKOSH, Wis.—The UW-Oshkosh Titans (35-7) held off a late charge from the Luther College Norse (32-9) in the first game of the day as the Titans opened their NCAA tournament with a 5-4 victory over the Norse.
The Titans are one win away from tying the school record for most wins in a season.
Game Recap
The Titans were the first to strike on the board, as Abby Garceau scored in the bottom of the first inning. Garceau crossed the plate on Haylie Wittman's single to right field.
The Norse tied the game up in the third inning, as Katie Brennan scored on Leah Crown's single to center field.
Garceau singled to left-center field in the fourth inning as Lizzie Slobodecki scored. That would start a three run inning for the Titans. Hannah Ritter, the Titans' hits leader, doubled down the left field line as Gabby Buikema and Garceau put the Titans up 4-1.
Sophie Wery singled through the left side of the field in the sixth inning as Garceau scored for the third time in the game.
Belle Berg of the Norse singled through the left side to reach in the seventh inning. Berg was one of three Norse to score in the seventh inning. After Sydney Schultz singled through the left side for two runs to be scored, Raven Allen lined up to the Titans' Ana Iliopoulos to end the game.
Starting the game for the Titans, Maddie Fink (18-2) went four innings, allowed five hits, one runs, and struck out two. With her first save of the season, Sydney Nemetz was in the circle for three innings, allowed four hits, and struck out two.
Ritter and Garceau were the only Titans to record multiple hits in the game. Ritter has record three hits in the last three appearances for the Titans.
Regional Recap
In the second game of the day, the top-seeded Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons defeated the UW-Superior Yellowjackets in six innings, 8-0. The Falcons' Claudia Utz hit the first home run of the regional in the first inning, scoring two runs as the Falcons kept hitting. The Falcons added runs in the second and fifth innings before scoring four runs in the sixth inning to win the game.
For the Falcons, Sydney Erdmann was three-for-four at the plate, three RBIs, and two runs. Utz went two-for-three at the plate, three RBIs, and one run scored for the Falcons. Gina Followell (25-0) was in the circle for the Falcons and recorded 10 strikeouts.
For the Yellowjackets, Zoe Thomson was one-for-two at the plate. Tayler Kraemer (20-11) struck out four batters and issued five walks in the loss.
NCAA Regional Games
The Titans will face the Falcons at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park. The Norse will take on the Yellowjackets at 1:30 p.m. in the first of two double-elimination games. The final game of the day will take place at 4 p.m. with the opponents to be determined.
A full tournament schedule can be found here.
Tickets will be cash only for the regional.
More information can be found at the Titans' regional site.