Morgan Rau crushed a pinch-hit grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs in the first game of the day to lead the UW-Oshkosh softball team to a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader split at UW-River Falls on Friday (April 23).
UW-Oshkosh (15-7, 7-3 WIAC) won the opener, 6-5, before UW-River Falls (10-10, 5-5) held off a Titan rally to win a 5-3 decision during the second contest. UW-Oshkosh falls to second in the conference standings – one game behind UW-Eau Claire (18-10, 6-2 WIAC). UW-River Falls sits in fifth place with four conference games remaining.
In Friday's first game, UW-Oshkosh faced a 3-0 deficit after three innings until Rau blasted her team-high second home run of the season on a line over the left field wall in the top of the fourth inning.
Natalie Dudek was hit by a pitch to lead off the UW-Oshkosh fourth frame. Amanda Mc Ilhany followed with a single and Ana Iliopoulos reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. After a strikeout for the first out, Acacia Tupa drew a walk to bring home Dudek with the Titans' initial run. Rau then stepped up to the plate and smacked a drive mere feet over the wall in height but well beyond the fence in distance.
Rau later added a two-out double that scored Iliopoulos from second base for a 6-3 Titans lead in the top of the sixth inning.
UW-River Falls had baserunners in the fourth and fifth innings against Titans starting pitcher Maddie Fink, but Tupa, the UW-Oshkosh center fielder, prevented a Falcon run from scoring during the fourth frame by making a phenomenal inning-ending catch before crashing into the outfield fence. Fink then pitched around a walk and a hit batter in the fifth inning by inducing a lineout and registering a strikeout to preserve the Titans' 6-3 advantage.
The Falcons trimmed their deficit to 6-5 during the home half of the sixth frame on a two-out, two-run homer from Natalie Bosch. However, Fink rebounded to retire the final four batters she faced to pick up the complete game victory.
Fink, who leads the WIAC with seven complete games, improved her record to 9-2 on the year, allowing three earned runs on six hits and five walks with seven strikeouts.
UW-River Falls outhit the Titans, 6-4, as Johanna Breyen went 3-for-4 for the Falcons while Keegan Piton added a pair of hits. Chloe Lambie contributed a double for the Titans.
Falcons starting pitcher Juliana Reynolds suffered the loss, ceding five runs on three hits and four walks with one strikeout in 3.1 innings.
During the nightcap UW-River Falls never trailed after scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning. UW-Oshkosh plated a run during the seventh frame and had the go-ahead run at the plate with one out, but the Falcons thwarted the threat with a groundout to end the game.
Reynolds, who started both games in the UW-River Falls pitcher's circle, did not allow a hit during the second contest until Hannah Ritter laced a run-scoring double that plated Lambie with two outs in the fifth inning. UW-Oshkosh added another run during the sixth frame on a Natalie Dillon double that scored Dudek. Rau later lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Lambie and cut the UW-Oshkosh deficit to 5-3 in the seventh inning.
Ritter reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with a walk and one run batted in.
Titans starting pitcher Claire Petrus (2-1), making her second start of the year, suffered the loss despite holding the Falcons to two runs over the first three innings. Petrus struck out one without issuing a walk.
Piton doubled twice and had three RBIs for UW-River Falls.
Reynolds (7-4) earned the win after holding the Titans to three runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts across the first 6.1 innings.
Corinne Coe tossed the final two-thirds of an inning in scoreless fashion to record the save.
UW-Oshkosh travels to UW-Whitewater for a nonconference doubleheader Wednesday (April 28).
