INDIANAPOLIS- UW-Oshkosh is set to open its fourth straight and 13th overall NCAA Division III Softball Championship appearance against Illinois College on Thursday (May 14) in St. Louis, Mo.
 
No. 2 seed Oshkosh (30-8-1) and No. 3 seed Illinois College (33-10) will battle at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the four-team, double-elimination St. Louis Regional at WashU Softball Field.
 
Washington University in St. Louis (28-5-1) is hosting the regional as the top seed. The Bears open the NCAA postseason against No. 4 seed Capital University (Ohio) (21-17) at 11 a.m.
 
Thursday's St. Louis Regional winners will meet at noon Friday (May 15), while the opening-round losers will face off at 1:30 p.m.
 
The 64-team NCAA Championship features regionals at 16 sites. Regionals conclude Saturday (May 16) with the winner advancing to a best-of-three-game super regional May 21-22. Eight super regional victors then advance to World Series that will be held May 28-June 3 in Salem, Va.
 
WashU is currently ranked seventh in the division by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Oshkosh is 14th in the latest poll.
 
Oshkosh, which received one of 22 at-large berths into the field of 64 after falling during the semifinal round of the WIAC Tournament, owns a 30-26 record in 12 prior NCAA postseason trips. The Titans, seeking their fifth regional title, reached the World Series in 1988, 2021 and 2024.
 
Illinois College, the Midwest Conference regular season champion, earned an automatic berth in the Division III Championship by winning the MWC postseason crown with three consecutive victories. The Lady Blues sport a 1-4 record in two previous NCAA trips (2021, 2022).
 
Oshkosh defeated Illinois College, 4-2, in their only previous meeting during the opening game of the 2021 NCAA Eau Claire Regional.
 
WashU, the University Athletic Association regular season champion, boasts a 32-34 record in 18 prior NCAA appearances. The geographically diverse UAA is the only Division III softball league that awards its automatic qualifier to the regular season winner. The Bears, hosting a regional for the third straight year, were the 2007 Division III runners-up after clinching the program's lone regional title.
 
Capital earned an automatic berth into the Division III Championship by winning the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament title with three straight wins as the No. 6 seed. The OAC expanded its softball tournament to six teams for the first time this season. Back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013, the Comets are 6-8 in four previous national postseason trips and are attempting to win their first regional title.
 
The Titans have played WashU just twice and never in the NCAA postseason, falling to the Bears by scores of 4-1 in 2011 and 6-3 in 2010. Oshkosh lost its only meeting with Capital, 6-1, during the opening round of the 1997 Grand Rapids (Mich.) Regional.
 
Oshkosh enters the St. Louis Regional averaging 4.33 runs per game while compiling a 1.48 ERA and a .973 fielding percentage. The Titans rank fourth in the country in ERA, fifth in hits allowed per seven innings (5.15), sixth in WHIP ratio (1.02), seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.68), 12th in shutouts (13) and 13th in fielding percentage.
 
Six Titans are batting .295 or better, including Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark) with a team-best .370 batting average. Ullman also paces Oshkosh with 32 runs scored, 47 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, nine stolen bases and 65 total bases.
 
Olivia Baugnet (De Pere/De Pere) has produced a .369 batting average, followed by Brianne Lopez (Volo, Ill./Grant Community) at .355, Emma Bohn (Rosendale/Laconia) at .302, Mary Kate Quaid (Aurora, Ill./Oswego East) at .299 and Amanda Martineck (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) at .295. Quaid has a team-best four home runs on the year. Martineck and Quaid share the team lead with 23 runs batted in.
 
Sarah Hammerton (Appleton/Appleton West) has drawn a squad-high 13 walks, while Maddie Crick (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove), Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna), Kelly Selzer (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) and Kaelin Adair (Mishicot/Mishicot) have each played at least 20 games this season.
 
Anchoring the Titans pitching staff are Kiran Sanford (Two Rivers/Mishicot), Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) and Brianna Bougie (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West).
 
Sanford has produced a 16-3 record with a 1.32 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP ratio and 152 strikeouts in 122 innings pitched. She has tossed six shutouts and ranks 14th nationally in strikeouts, strikeouts per seven innings (8.7) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.33).
 
Nardi is 9-1 with a 1.41 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP ratio and 75 strikeouts in 74.2 innings pitched. She recorded back-to-back no-hitters against UW-River Falls on April 26 and UW-Stevens Point on April 30. Nardi ranks 16th in the country by allowing 4.59 hits per seven innings.

Bougie has a 5-4 record with a 1.88 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP ratio and 58 strikeouts across 70.2 innings pitched. Her four saves this year rank seventh nationally.
 
Illinois College scores 6.21 runs per contest while compiling a .309 batting average, 2.01 ERA and a .959 fielding percentage. The Lady Blues lead the nation with 27 triples while ranking fifth in the division with 16 shutouts, 11th with 162 walks and 19th with 122 stolen bases.
 
Ezzy Mauermann headlines the Illinois College offense from near the bottom of the batting order, pacing the squad with a .408 batting average, 40 runs scored, eight home runs, 76 total bases, a .738 slugging percentage and a .519 on-base percentage to go along with 28 RBIs, 20 walks and 20 steals.
 
Other team leaders include Maddie Adams with 44 hits, nine doubles, 31 RBIs and 23 walks; Gabby Miller with 29 stolen bases on 29 attempts; and Olivia Darby with six triples.
 
Six Lady Blues have stolen at least 13 bases on the year and 11 different Illinois College players have collected triples.
 
Jordan Closs is the ace of the Lady Blues pitching staff, going 15-4 this season with a 1.67 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP ratio and 112 strikeouts in 125.2 innings. Her eight shutouts are seventh most in the nation.
 
Rounding out the Illinois College pitching staff are Cambria Currie and Avery Fritz. Currie is 9-4 with a 2.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP ratio and 58 strikeouts in 76.1 innings. Fritz is 9-2 with a 2.46 ERA, 1.55 WHIP ratio and 48 punchouts in 62.2 innings.
 
Host WashU scores 6.24 runs per game while registering a .348 batting average, 1.71 earned run average and .952 fielding percentage. The Bears, who are 20-1 at home this season, rank seventh nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (5.21), eighth in ERA and 13th in stolen bases per contest (3.41).
 
Eleven of the 13 Bears with more than 20 at-bats are hitting better than .300 as Julia Sullo paces the team with a .473 batting average, 53 hits, 39 runs, three triples, two home runs, 24 RBIs, 68 total bases, a .524 on-base percentage and 45 steals from atop the order. Sullo ranks 10th in the country in stolen bases.
 
The WashU offense also features Harper Nix batting .368 with a team-high eight doubles and 14 walks. Lineups regulars Alexa Hanish (.385), Kennedy Grippo (.383), Kristina Donaldson (.373) are also hitting well above .350 on the year while Sydney Schneider (.341) has added 18 steals.
 
Maria Brooks is WashU's top pitcher, going 16-0 with a 1.34 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP ratio and 112 strikeouts in 109.1 innings. She ranks 10th nationally in WHIP ratio and 13th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.48).
 
Capital enters its first regional in more than a decade scoring 5.16 runs per contest with a .293 batting average, a 4.11 ERA and a .955 fielding percentage. The Comets are third in the division with 56 sacrifice bunts.
 
The top Capital hitter is Kyleigh Kirby with a team-leading .358 batting average, 44 hits, 44 runs, six home runs, 31 RBIs, 16 walks, a .569 slugging percentage, a .433 on-base percentage and 11 stolen bases.
 
Other Comet leaders include Shelby Allen with nine doubles and Autumn Bridges with 14 sacrifice bunts.
 
Sharing a majority of the Capital pitching load are Alyssa Miller and Addi Parker. Miller is 10-6 with a 3.60 ERA, a 1.59 WHIP ratio and 112 strikeouts in 101 innings. Parker is 6-4 with a 3.73 ERA, a 1.69 WHIP ratio and 34 punchouts in 86.1 innings.
 
Oshkosh has reached the regional final each of the past three seasons.