(UW-OSHKOSH, STEVENS POINTS ATHLETICS) ST. LOUIS – Brianne Lopez floated to single into shallow center field to send home Morgan Miller with the game’s only run in the bottom of the 12th inning as UW-Oshkosh outlasted Illinois College, 1-0, during the first round of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship St. Louis Regional at WashU Softball Field on Thursday (May 14).
Miller began the fateful 12th inning by drawing a walk. An Olivia Baugnet sacrifice bunt advanced Miller to second base with two outs. Olivia Ullman followed with a single to shortstop to bring up Lopez, who blooped the first pitch she saw into center field to plate Miller.
Miller was the first Oshkosh baserunner to advance past second base the entire contest.
No. 2 seed Oshkosh (31-8-1) advances to play regional host and No. 1 seed Washington University in St. Louis (29-5-1) in the winner’s bracket final at 11 a.m. Friday (May 15). The host Bears began the four-team, double-elimination regional with an 8-0 victory in five innings over Capital University (Ohio). WashU is now 21-1 at home on the year.
No. 3 seed Illinois College (33-11) faces No. 4 seed Capital (21-18) in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The St. Louis Regional concludes Saturday (May 16) with the winner advancing to a best-of-three-game super regional May 22-23.
Three Oshkosh pitchers combined to strike out 17 batters while Illinois College narrowly outhit the Titans, 7-6. The shutout was Oshkosh’s 14th this season.
Grace Nardi (10-1) earned the win after tossing two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four.
Kiran Sanford, the 2026 WIAC Pitcher of the Year, went the first 5.1 innings in the circle, limiting the Lady Blues to three hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Sanford has now struck out double-digit batters four times and lowered her season ERA to 1.26.
Brianna Bougie, the 2025 WIAC Pitcher of the Year, bridged the innings between Sanford and Nardi, providing 4.2 scoreless frames. She ceded three hits and struck out three without issuing a walk.
Six different Titans accounted for the Titans’ six hits, including Lopez, who went 1-for-6.
Maddie Adams was 2-for-5 with a double to pace Illinois College. Every spot in the Lady Blues order struck out at least once and seven of the nine spots went down on strikes multiples times.
Lady Blues starting pitcher Jodan Closs, the Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Year, did not factor in the decision despite shutting out the Titans across the first 10 frames. She gave up four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Illinois College relief pitcher Avery Fritz (9-2) suffered the loss, surrendering a run on two hits and a walk without notching a strikeout in 1.2 innings.
The Lady Blues stranded eight baserunners, including two during the first, 10th and 12th innings. Illinois College also had two runners thrown out on the bases as Titans catcher Mary Kate Quaid gunned down a runner attempting to steal second base in the top of the third frame.
Illinois College later had a runner thrown out at the plate in the sixth inning as part of a double play that began with a diving stop on a groundball by Oshkosh second baseman Haylie Wittman. Following an Adams leadoff double and a popped up Lady Blues bunt for the first out, Wittman threw out Alivia Darby by a step at first base. Adams then tried to scamper home on the play, but Titans first baseman Amanda Martineck fired to Quaid at home to nab Adams and keep the game scoreless.
Oshkosh left nine runners on base, including three at second base. The Titans nearly ended the game on walk-off home runs by Sarah Hammerton during the home half of the ninth inning and Martineck in the 11th frame. Both deep fly balls were caught at or near the warning track.
Illinois College, which had won 20 of its last 21 games on the year, had its 13-game winning streak come to an end. The Lady Blues were attempting to register their 17th shutout this season.
Oshkosh has won both of its all-time meetings with Illinois College. The Titans downed the Lady Blues, 4-2, during the first game of the 2021 Eau Claire Regional.
The 12-inning pitcher’s duel marked Oshkosh’s second longest in NCAA postseason play. The Titans also outlasted Coe College (Iowa) by a 1-0 score in 14 innings during the 2007 Eau Claire Regional opener.
The Titans now boast a 1.41 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP on the year after heading into the NCAA tournament ranked fourth nationally in ERA and sixth in WHIP. Oshkosh also played errorfree for the 25th time this season to improved its fielding percentage to .974.
Oshkosh is seeking its first win over WashU. The Bears previous defeated the Titans by scores of 6-3 in 2010 and 4-1 in 2011. Both prior matchups were neutral nonconference matchups in April.
WashU and Oshkosh are ranked seventh and 15th in the country, respectively, by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
St. Mary’s 5, Stevens Point 1
WINONA, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (30-14) fell to No. 11 Saint Mary’s (37-6) in the NCAA Tournament Regional opener on Thursday morning. It was the first meetings between the programs since 1998.
Senior Trinity Otto (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) belted a solo home run to account for UWSP’s run. Kaitlyn Roberts (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville), Rachael Madsen (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford), Morgan Harwood (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) and Ashley LeCavalier (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) each had a single in the game.
Kodi Rizzo (Newark, Ill./Newark Community), Harwood and Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) all pitched in the game for the Pointers.
Roberts singled with two away in the top of the first. She moved to third on a single by Madsen, but the whole play was nullified by a runner left early call.
A leadoff walk and a single put runners on the corners in the first for SMU. Madsen cut down the runner attempting to steal second, but the slide took out the fielder allowing the runner from third to score. It was Madsen’s 16th runner caught stealing, tying her for the national lead this season.
Madsen singled to start the second. Two batters later, Otto was hit by a pitch. With two down, LeCavalier reached on an error, but UWSP stranded the bases loaded.
Two hits in the second for the Cardinals plated a run and UWSP faced a 2-0 deficit.
Hailee Thompson (Bonduel, Wis./Bonduel) was hit by a pitch to begin the third inning. Two batters later, Roberts drew a walk. Again, UWSP was held without a run scored.
SMU loaded the bases in the third with a single and two walks. Harwood came on in relief with two away and stranded all three runners.
Otto crushed the first pitch of the fourth over the fence in right-center to get UWSP on the board. Harwood and LeCavalier had back-to-back singles, but both were stranded in scoring position.
SMU added two runs in the fourth on three hits to put UWSP’s deficit at 4-1. The Cardinals got another run in the sixth on three hits to make it 5-1.
Rizzo went 2.2 innings in the start. Harwood also tossed 2.2 innings and recorded the lone strikeout by UWSP pitching. Zygowski pitched the final 0.2 frames.
The Pointers will face Bethany Lutheran in game four of the regionals on Friday (May 15) at 1:30 p.m. The winner will keep its season alive and play again at 4:00 p.m. in another elimination game.
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