EAU CLAIRE, Wis.- Nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball held high-scoring UW-Eau Claire to just three runs on the day but ultimately settled for a doubleheader split during the WIAC opener for both teams Saturday (April 11) at Bollinger Fields.
 
Oshkosh (18-5-1, 1-1 WIAC), ranked 16th in NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, won the league opener, 6-0, behind a four-hitter from Kiran Sanford (Two Rivers/Mishicot). Eau Claire (21-7, 1-1 WIAC) bounced back to claim the nightcap, 3-0, as Kasey Felden tossed a three-hitter.
 
The Titans, who collected 13 hits during the first game of the day, were seeking to start conference play 2-0 for the sixth consecutive season. The Blugolds split their opening league doubleheader for the fifth straight year.
 
Oshkosh notched its WIAC-leading sixth shutout this season and played errorfree for the fourth straight contest after heading into the day with a conference-best .968 fielding percentage. The Titans have committed just one error over their past seven games.
 
Eau Claire, which was held to just 10 hits Saturday, entered the day ranked fourth in the country with a .389 batting average and 28 home runs while listing sixth nationally at 9.15 runs per game. The Blugolds went a combined 10-for-46 (.217) against a trio of Titan pitchers.
 
In Saturday's first game, Oshkosh struck for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning and owned a 5-0 lead after three frames.
 
That was more than enough run support for Sanford, who held the Blugolds to four singles and two walks en route to her conference-best 10th win and third shutout.
 
Sanford (10-1) induced three double plays, including inning-enders during both the first and second frames, and did not allow a runner past first base on the way to maintaining her WIAC-leading WHIP ratio at 0.90 and striking out four.
 
Oshkosh had two outs and bases empty during the top of the first inning until Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark) doubled and Amanda Martineck (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) homered to left-center field for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Titans' three-run third inning featured RBI singles from Sarah Hammerton (Appleton/Appleton West) and Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) in addition to a run-scoring groundout from Kelly Selzer (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) as Ullman, Martineck and Hammerton each crossed the plate.
 
Oshkosh tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh courtesy of a Hammerton groundout that brought home pinch runner Kaelin Adair (Mishicot/Mishicot).
 
Ullman and Martineck both went 3-for-4 at the plate. Ullman accounted for two of Oshkosh's five doubles that also included two-baggers by Martineck, Wittman and Mary Kate Quaid (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East). The home run was Martineck's first this season and fifth career as Oshkosh went deep for the sixth time in the past eight games.
 
Hammerton, Quaid and Wittman each added two hits for the Titans.
 
Norah Kutnink was 2-for-3 to lead the Blugolds.
 
Eau Claire starting pitcher Claire Beck (8-3) suffered the loss, yielding six runs on 13 hits with four strikeouts across 6.1 innings.
 
During the nightcap Eau Claire tallied a run in the home half of the first inning and later tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth frame.
 
Kutnink, Hailey Hagedorn and Jane Wallace all drove in runs for the Blugolds. Kutnink hit a solo home run – Eau Claire's 29th of the season – for a 2-0 advantage in the sixth inning.
 
Eau Claire's Paige Lathrop, the lone player to produce multiple hits during the nightcap, went 2-for-3 and stole two bases. Lathrop went into the day as the conference leader in batting average (.530), on-base percentage (.598), hits (44), runs (37) and steals (21).
 
Oshkosh was held to singles from Selzer, Skyler Calmes (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) and Brianne Lopez (Volo, Ill./Grant Community). Calmes' pinch-hit liner through the left side during the seventh inning was the first hit of her career.
 
Felden improved her record to 5-2 on the year. She walked five and struck out five as Oshkosh stranded nine baserunners.
 
Titans starting pitcher Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) (5-1) was charged with her first loss of the year despite retiring 12 consecutive Blugolds between the second and sixth frames. Nardi, who entered the day sixth nationally at 10 strikeouts per seven innings, allowed three runs on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
 
Oshkosh returns home to host UW-La Crosse (16-9, 1-1 WIAC) for a league doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday (April 15) at the Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.