OSHKOSH, Wis.- Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) tossed the 15th no-hitter in program history as nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball swept both ends of a doubleheader via shutout against visiting UW-River Falls on Sunday (April 26) at Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.
 
Oshkosh (27-5-1, 8-1 WIAC), ranked 16th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, silenced UW-River Falls (8-24, 1-8 WIAC) by scores of 4-0 in the opener and 2-0 during the nightcap. The Titans now own a two-game lead over UW-Platteville (20-12, 6-3 WIAC) with five conference contests remaining.
 
Titans starting pitcher Kiran Sanford (Two Rivers/Mishicot) (16-1) fired a three-hitter during the first contest before Nardi (8-1) recorded her first career no-hitter as Oshkosh extended its winning streak to nine games and remained alone atop the conference standings.
 
Nardi's no-hitter – the first by a WIAC pitcher this season – was the 86th in Division III on the year. The Titans most recent prior no-hitter was by Brianna Bougie (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) during an 8-0, six-inning victory at home over St. Norbert College on April 4, 2024.
 
With the two shutouts Sunday, Oshkosh's ERA against conference foes stands at 0.61. The Titans, who have yielded just one run during their past six games overall, now have a WIAC-leading 12 shutouts on the year.
 
Nardi's masterpiece featured several outstandings defensive plays, including a diving catch from outfielder Olivia Baugnet (De Pere/De Pere) in addition to several far-from-routine plays from infielders Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark), Emma Bohn (Rosendale/Laconia), Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) and Amanda Martineck (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East). Titans catcher Mary Kate Quaid (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East) clinched the no-hitter by pouncing on a dribbler in front of the plate and throwing to Martineck at first base in plenty of time.
 
Nardi, who lowered her season ERA to 1.55, has not allowed a run across her last 24 innings pitched spanning three scoreless outings over the past five days. She got 17 of her 21 outs on the infield Sunday, inducing 13 groundouts while striking out four.
 
Nardi walked four batters and pitched around runners in scoring position in the first, fourth and sixth innings. She set down the Falcons in order during the second, third, fifth and seventh frames en route to logging her second complete game of the year.
 
The Titans broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, which began with a Lopez double down the right-field line. After advancing to third base on a wild pitch with one out, Lopez trotted home with what proved to be the winning run on Ullman's ringing triple to left field. Quaid followed with a single up the middle to plate Ullman for a 2-0 Titans lead.
 
Lopez went 3-for-4 from atop the Oshkosh batting order. Ullman walked and added a pair of the Titans' seven hits.
 
Falcons starting pitcher Brooklyn Van Gruensven (2-8) suffered the loss, yielding two runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
 
In the first game of the day, Oshkosh built a 4-0 lead after two innings, and Sanford limited the Falcons to just three singles and a walk.
 
Quaid drove in Bohn with a single up the middle to open the scoring during the home half of the first frame. The Titans then tacked on three more runs in the second inning as Lopez plated Morgan Miller (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) with a single, and Bohn laced a two-run single to bring home both Lopez and Baugnet.
 
Sanford stymied the River Falls lineup as no Falcon advanced past first base. Sanford, who has allowed just one earned run in her last 43 innings across eight appearances, now sports a 1.06 ERA on the year to go along with 134 strikeouts after punching out eight Sunday on the way to collecting her sixth shutout. She paces the conference in wins, ERA, innings pitched (106), strikeouts, complete games (10) and shutouts.
 
Lopez had three of Oshkosh's nine hits. She ended the day 6-for-8 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and one RBI to boost her team-best batting average to .400.
 
Caitlyn Kressel accounted for all three River Falls hits.
 
Falcons starting pitcher Hailey Kincaid (3-9) was charged with the loss, ceding four runs on seven hits and three walks with one strikeout in 2.2 innings.
 
Oshkosh, which improved to 12-0-1 at home this season, has now won 10 of its last 11 meetings with River Falls.
 
Sunday's twinbill wrapped up a stretch of eight games in six days for the Titans, who have outscored opponents by a combined 36-5 score during their current nine-game winning streak.
 
The Titans host UW-Stevens Point (23-9, 5-5 WIAC) for a league doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday (April 29) at Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.