OSHKOSH, Wis.- Kiran Sanford (Two Rivers/Mishicot) tossed a one-hitter with 18 strikeouts during the second contest as nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball earned a pair of nonconference shutouts against St. Norbert College on Saturday (March 7) in the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Dome.
 
Oshkosh (6-0), ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, defeated St. Norbert (0-2) by scores of 5-0 behind a combined shutout from Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) and Brianna Bougie (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) and 2-0 on the strength of Sanford's gem.
 
Sanford (3-0), making her third collegiate start, allowed just a two-out bloop single in the top of the fifth inning on the way to becoming the second WIAC pitcher to record 18 or more strikeouts in a game. Oshkosh Hall of Famer Ronessa Stampfli, the only WIAC pitcher to surpass 1,000 career strikeouts (1,019 from 2005-08), fired the conference's other 18-strikeout game and owns the league record with 22 punchouts during a 14-inning contest against Coe College (Iowa) on May 10, 2007.
 
Sanford struck out two in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth and fifth, one in the sixth, and three in the seventh. Her lone hit allowed was an opposite-field flair off the handle of Morgan Jarvi's bat that landed directly on the right-field line behind first base.
 
Oshkosh provided Sanford all the run support she needed in the home half of the fourth inning, when Morgan Miller (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) laced a one-out single up the middle that plated both Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) from third base and Emma Bohn (Rosendale/Laconia) from second.
 
Sanford, who has not allowed a run across a team-high 15.2 innings of work on the year, is now averaging 14.3 strikeouts per seven innings after entering the day eighth nationally at 11.3.
 
The Titans outhit the Green Knights, 8-1, during the second game of the doubleheader as Olivia Baugnet (De Pere/De Pere) went 3-for-3 while Bohn and Miller added two hits apiece.
 
Green Knights starting pitcher Alyson Clarke (0-1) was charged with the loss, yielding two runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts across the first three-plus innings.
 
In Saturday's opener, the Titans turned a no-out, none-on situation into a pair of runs during the third frame and never looked back. Baugnet sparked the unlikely rally with a bunt single. Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark) followed with a ringing RBI double, and Sarah Hammerton (Appleton/Appleton West) plated Ullman with a single for a 2-0 lead.
 
Oshkosh tacked on three insurance runs during the sixth inning as Bohn, Miller and Brianne Lopez (Volo, Ill./Grant Community) recorded RBIs to score Wittman, Maddie Crick (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) and Autumn Freismuth (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac).
 
Nardi and Bougie never let a St. Norbert runner past first base after Elly Kirst led off the game with a double off Nardi, who got a popout and a pair of strikeouts to work around the leadoff hit.
 
Nardi (2-0) earned the win after holding the Green Knights to two hits and a pair of walks in fourth innings pitched. She has not given up a run in 11 innings pitched this season.
 
Bougie did not allow a baserunner over the final three frames while striking out one to record her second save of the season and program record-extending 17th career.
 
St. Norbert starting pitcher Addison Maurer (0-1) suffered the loss, ceding two runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in 4.1 innings.
 
The Titans have won each of their last 10 meetings with St. Norbert, outscoring the Green Knights, 59-3, and registering eight shutouts during the winning streak.
 
Oshkosh lowered its earned run average to 0.53 following the squad's second and third shutouts on the year. The Titans did commit an error Saturday and now boast a .994 fielding percentage.
 
The Titans, out to a 6-0 start for the fourth consecutive year, improved to 35-2 all-time in the UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Dome since debuting the facility in 2020. Oshkosh has won each of its last 32 contests inside its home dome.