University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Athletics

OSHKOSH, Wis.- Nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh softball walked off with a 4-3 win in 10 innings during the opener, Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) tossed her second straight no-hitter during the nightcap, and the Titans swept a doubleheader from UW-Stevens Point to secure at least a share of the WIAC regular season championship Thursday (April 30) at Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.
 
Oshkosh (29-5-1, 10-1 WIAC), ranked 14th in NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, won Thursday's first game on Maddie Crick's (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) one-out single in the home half of the 10th frame before cruising to a 4-0 triumph during the second contest behind Nardi's gem.
 
With the victory Oshkosh earned at least a share of the program's second straight and sixth overall regular season league crown. The Titans, who also won back-to-back WIAC championships in 1984 and 1985, claimed their other regular season titles in 2007 and 2021. Oshkosh can clinch the championship outright with one win during its final three regular season games.
 
Stevens Point (23-11, 5-7 WIAC), which won four of its six meetings with Oshkosh a year ago, fell from fourth to fifth in the league standings. The Pointers ousted Oshkosh in last year's NCAA regional final at Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.
 
Nardi's no-hitter was her second in the past five days and the 16th in team history. She also no-hit UW-River Falls on April 26 on the way to becoming the first Titan to ever toss consecutive no-nos. Only Kari Miller had ever thrown two complete-game no-hitters for the Titans during the same season, accomplishing the feat on April 4 and April 25 in 1986.
 
During the title-clinching nightcap, Nardi (9-1) faced five batters over the minimum after walking three and hitting a pair of Pointers while collecting six strikeouts. She has not yielded a hit over her last 14.1 innings pitched.
 
Nardi worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the sixth inning en route to retiring the final five batters she faced, including pinch hitter Paige Kislow via a strikeout looking to conclude the contest. She has also not allowed a run in her past 31 innings pitched over her last four outings. Nardi's scoreless streak is tied for seventh longest in WIAC history and fourth best by a Titan.
 
UW-Stevens Point suffered its first no-hit defeat in the 377 games since Luther College (Iowa) downed the Pointers, 10-0 in five innings, on April 3, 2016.
 
Nardi now sports a 1.39 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 70.1 innings across 17 pitching appearances, including 13 starts.
 
The Titans backed Nardi's spectacular outing with a four-run bottom of the third inning. All four runs were scored after two outs.
 
Kelly Selzer (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) sparked the rally with a leadoff single. Selzer advanced to second base on a two-strike groundout from Olivia Baugnet (De Pere/De Pere), and Brianne Lopez (Volo, Ill./Grant Community) followed with a single to right field. With two outs and a pair of runners aboard, Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark) plated Selzer with what proved to be the game winning run on single through the left side. Mary Kate Quaid (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East) then drove home Lopez on a single to center field, and Crick smashed a double over the right fielder's head to send home both Ullman and Quaid.
 
The ringing two-run double – Oshkosh's lone extra-base hit of the afternoon – put a bow on Crick's 5-for-8 day at the plate.
 
The Pointers loaded the bases with one out in the sixth frame on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch, but Nardi escaped the jam and kept her no-hit bid alive by getting a strikeout and a groundout to Ullman at third base. Nardi then earned the no-hitter by inducing a weak groundball to second baseman Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) for the first out and a routine flyout to Sarah Hammerton (Appleton/Appleton West) in center field ahead of the strikeout that finished off the Titans' doubleheader sweep.
 
Stevens Point starting pitcher Mallorie Kreuser (6-3) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. She struck out one without issuing a walk before Pointers relief pitcher Ashley Zygowski held Oshkosh hitless over the final 3.1 frames.
 
In the first game of the day, Stevens Point knotted the score at 1 with a run in the fourth inning. The Pointers later took their only lead of the day with a two-run sixth inning for a 3-1 advantage. However, the lead was short-lived as Oshkosh responded with two runs of its own during the bottom of the sixth frame to tie the score at 3.
 
Quaid opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly that plated Emma Bohn (Rosendale/Laconia) in the third inning. Stevens Point's Trinity Otto hit a solo home run just inside the pole down the right field line to knot the game at 1 in the fourth frame.
 
The Pointers claimed a 3-1 lead following consecutive hit batters with no outs and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, marking the end of Titans starting pitcher Kiran Sanford's (Two Rivers/Mishicot) outing.
 
Titans relief pitcher Brianna Bougie (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) did not allow any of the three inherited runners to score after fielding a comebacker to the circle and getting a forceout at home, recording a strikeout and including a flyout to keep the deficit at 3-1.
 
Oshkosh took advantage of a one-out fielding error to score a pair of unearned runs and tie the score at 3 during the bottom of the sixth inning. After reaching via the error, Quaid was lifted for pinch runner Kaelin Adair (Mishicot/Mishicot), who reached second base on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. Trailing 3-2 with the bases empty and two outs, Hammerton walked and Crick singled to bring up Selzer, who laced a single just beyond the reach of Pointers shortstop Hailee Thompson to score Hammerton with the tying run.
 
Bougie and Stevens Point relief pitcher Kodi Rizzo combined to set down 15 consecutive batters as neither team had a baserunner between the top of the seventh inning and the top of the ninth frame.
 
Crick led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single. She moved to second base and Wittman reached safely on a throwing error. Baugnet was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs, but a forceout at home and a double play sent to game to the 10th inning.
 
Bougie's string of 14 consecutive batters retired ended on a two-out single in the top of the 10th inning. However, Quaid caught Ella Smith trying to steal second base to end the frame.
 
Quaid singled to right field with one out during the bottom of the 10th inning and advanced to second base on an ensuing errant throw by the Pointers right fielder. Josie Rammer (Janesville/Craig) followed with a pinch-hit single to right field – her first hit of the season and second of her career – to advance pinch runner Autumn Freismuth (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) to third base.
 
Hammerton was then intentionally walked to load the base for Crick, who delivered the thrilling game-winning single through the pitcher's legs and into center field to plate Freismuth.
 
Crick's single – the last of her career-high four hits of the game – made a winner of Bougie (4-3), the reigning WIAC Pitcher of the Year, who tossed five one-hit innings with six strikeouts and zero walks in relief of Sanford.
 
Sanford went the first five frames, ceding three runs on five hits and five walks with six strikeouts. Sanford, who boasts a conference-leading 1.20 ERA, reclaimed the WIAC strikeout lead with 140 and still paces the league with 16 victories on the year.
 
Crick went 4-for-5 to boost her batting average to .423 on the year. Ullman added two of the Titans' 10 hits.
 
Smith accounted for two of Stevens Point's six hits.
 
Rizzo (6-1) was charged with her first loss of the season and second career after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
 
Oshkosh, which improved to 14-0-1 at home and extended its winning streak to a season-best 11 games, becomes the first program since UW-Whitewater in 2017-19 to win consecutive league regular season titles.
 
The Titans remain at home to conclude a suspended game against UW-La Crosse (20-16, 4-7 WIAC) at 3 p.m. Friday (May 1) at Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex. Play will resume with La Crosse leading, 4-0, in the top of the second inning.
 
Oshkosh won the first game versus La Crosse, 5-0, on April 17 at UW-Oshkosh Rec Plex Field before lightning and rain forced the contest to be suspended.