MADISON, Wis.- The 2024 WIAC regular season champion UW-Oshkosh softball team, which returns to the field for a doubleheader against Concordia University Wisconsin at the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex on Feb. 22, was chosen to win the 2025 title by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Sydney Nemetz (Sr. • Marinette), a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Honorable Mention selection last season, leads head coach Scott Beyer's 17 returning letterwinners.
 
Additional returning All-WIAC players for the Titans (45-7, 12-2 WIAC in 2024) include: 2022 and 2024 first team selections Abby Garceau (Sr. • Mishicot) and Morgan Rau (Fifth • Downers Grove, Ill.), 2023 first team honoree and 2022 and 2024 honorable mention Sophie Wery (Sr. • Seymour), and 2024 first team members Sydney Rau (Fifth • Downers Grove, Ill.) and Haylie Wittman (Jr. • Kaukauna).
 
Beyer enters his 12th year leading UW-Oshkosh with a 302-120 record, two WIAC regular season championships, one league tournament title, and five postseason appearances with a pair of fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Division III Softball World Series. Under Beyer, the Titans have never posted a losing record overall or placed lower than third in the WIAC and have won at least 23 games every season discounting the shortened 2020 campaign.
 
Hannah Ritter, the WIAC's all-time hits leader at 274, joins the Titans' coaching staff this spring after playing for Oshkosh from 2020-24. Kaitlyn Krol enters 2025 in her third season as the full-time assistant and sixth overall after playing for the Titans from 2015-19.
 
UW-Stevens Point (32-9, 11-3) was picked to take second in the WIAC this season, followed by 2024 WIAC Tournament champion UW-Whitewater (33-10, 9-5). UW-La Crosse (24-19, 9-5) was chosen for fourth, UW-Eau Claire (18-18, 7-7) fifth, UW-Platteville (22-16, 2-12) sixth, UW-Stout (22-20, 6-8) seventh, and UW-River Falls (10-22, 0-14) eighth.
 
The Titans were ranked fourth in the preseason NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. UW-Whitewater ranks 21st and UW-Stevens Point ranks 23rd.
 
In 2024, UW-Oshkosh posted a 45-7 record and reached the NCAA Division III World Series for the third time in program history, earning a first-round win and placing fifth in the national tournament. Oshkosh set the WIAC win streak and total wins records this season at 25 and 45 games respectively and broke the 1990 Titan volleyball record of 44 wins for the most by any program in UW-Oshkosh Athletics history.
 
After kicking off the season against Concordia Wisconsin, UW-Oshkosh hosts the annual UW-Oshkosh Invitational at the Rec Plex on March 1-2. The Titans then play the Milwaukee School of Engineering at home on March 8 before heading down to Florida for THE Spring Games between March 21-27.
 
After returning home, UW-Oshkosh plays six more nonconference contests at the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park before WIAC play begins, including an Alumni Day doubleheader against Carroll University on April 5.
 
The Titans start WIAC competition at UW-La Crosse on April 12 and host UW-Whitewater on April 16. They then play on the road for the next week, traveling to River Falls, Stevens Point, Plymouth (Lakeland University for final nonconference games), and Menomonie. Oshkosh finishes the regular season at home, hosting UW-Platteville on April 30 and UW-Eau Claire for Senior Day on May 3.
 
The WIAC schedule begins on April 12. Each team will play a 14-game conference slate with the top-six teams in the standings advancing to the single-elimination WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) to be held May 9-11, at the No. 1 seed. The winner of the conference tournament secures an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.