The UW-Oshkosh softball team used a big inning to win the first game of the day in comeback fashion but settled for a doubleheader split at Marian University on Monday (March 22).
UW-Oshkosh (4-2) exploded for four runs on five hits during the fourth inning of the opener and held on to win, 4-2, before losing the nightcap by an 8-3 score.
The Titans outhit Marian University, 19-17, on the day as Hannah Ritter went a combined 5-for-8 at the plate for UW-Oshkosh, which also received a pair of hits in both games from Natalie Dudek.
In the first game, Marian University (6-4) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a double steal with two outs. The tally was the first earned run UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Maddie Fink has allowed in three starts this season and snapped Fink's streak of 18.2 consecutive innings without ceding an earned run dating back to last season.
Marian University starting pitcher Paige Rauhut held the Titans to one hit through the first three innings until Dudek started UW-Oshkosh's decisive fourth frame with a single. Chloe Lambie and Natalie Dillon followed with singles to load the bases with one out for Katie Fontanetta, who lofted a single down the left field line to score Dudek with the tying run.
Kailee Garstecki then laced a sharp single up the middle to score both Lambie and Dillon with what proved to be the winning runs. Acacia Tupa capped the four-run outburst with a sacrifice fly that brought home Fontanetta for a 4-1 lead.
The Titans quelled Marian University with inning-ending double plays in both the fifth and sixth frames behind relief pitcher Sidney Budzinski, but the Sabres loaded the bases with one out during the home half of the seventh to end Budzinski's outing after 2.1 innings. Fink reentered the UW-Oshkosh pitcher's circle and induced a run-scoring groundball and a lineout to end the game with two Sabres in scoring position.
Fink (2-1), who sports a 0.33 earned run average this season, earned the win after limiting Marian University to one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched across two stints in the circle.
Ritter was 3-for-4 to pace the Titans.
Budzinski allowed one run on four hits and two walks in 2.1 innings pitched during her first outing the year.
Julia Corona went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored for the Sabres.
Rauhut (3-2) was charged with the loss, yielding four runs on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts in a complete game effort.
Marian University snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Titans during a nightcap in which the Sabres jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one inning and never looked back. Corona, who finished the second game with three runs batted in, and Izzy Gonzalez both plated two runners with first inning doubles.
UW-Oshkosh cut its deficit to 5-3 with a run in the second inning and two more in the third, but the Sabres responded with a pair of runs of their own during the fifth frame and tacked on another insurance run in the sixth.
Emily Cliver and Ana Iliopoulos both delivered RBI singles for the Titans, and a Garstecki sacrifice fly pulled UW-Oshkosh within 5-3. However, the Titans went on to strand nine baserunners during the nightcap.
Cliver, Dudek, Iliopoulos and Ritter each accounted for two of UW-Oshkosh's 10 hits.
Titans starting pitcher Mia Crotty (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits and two walks with a season-high nine strikeouts in five innings.
Marian University starting pitcher Cailie Pliner (2-2) picked up the win after giving up three runs (two earned) in four innings. She scattered seven hits without issuing a walk or recording a strikeout.
Emalee Depa pitched the final three innings to earn the save for the Sabres, holding the Titans scoreless on three hits with a strikeout.
Kaley Ludvigsen went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Marian University.
UW-Oshkosh travels to Plymouth for a doubleheader against Lakeland University on Thursday (March 25).
Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics
