(UW-OSHKOSH COMMUNICATIONS) ST. LOUIS- Pitching, defense and timely hitting were once again the recipe for success for UW-Oshkosh as the Titans completed their unbeaten romp through the NCAA Division III Softball Championship St. Louis Regional with a 2-1 victory over host Washington University in St. Louis on Saturday (May 16) at WashU Softball Field.
Oshkosh (33-8-1) advances to play Belhaven University (Miss.) (40-10) in a best-of-three-game super regional Thursday and Friday (May 21-22). One game will be played Thursday before the super regional winner will be crowned Friday. Venue and game times are yet to be announced. The eight super regional winners will vie for the national championship at the World Series on May 28-June 3 in Salem, Va.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Oshkosh’s Haylie Wittman (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) drilled a two-run double to the wall in left-center field that provided the difference with one out during the home half of the fourth frame.
The game was scoreless before a nearly three-hour rain delay with two outs in the bottom of the third inning and Oshkosh runners at first and second bases.
No. 1 seed WashU opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth frame on a Julia Nicholus two-out single that plated Kristina Donaldson.
No. 2 seed Oshkosh responded immediately during the home half of the fourth inning as Emma Bohn (Rosendale/Laconia) and Morgan Miller (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) recorded consecutive one-out singles. Wittman then crushed a 1-2 pitch to the gap in left-center field to score both Bohn and Milelr with ease.
The stellar Oshkosh defense made another one-run lead hold, especially during the top of the fifth inning, when WashU opened the frame with back-to-back singles with the top of the Bears order coming up.
Bohn, the Titans shortstop, erased the lead runner on consecutive groundballs in the hole on the left side, tossing to third baseman Olivia Ullman (Denmark/Denmark) for the first out and then shoveling the ball to Ullman after scooping up the next grounder two pitches later. Oshkosh relief pitcher Grace Nardi (Marquette, Mich./Negaunee) eventually won an eight-pitch battle with the Bears’ No. 3 batter, Kristina Donaldson, inducing a flyball to right field to retire the side and maintain a 2-1 lead. Donaldson had homered twice Friday (May 15) to lead WashU to the regional final.
Nardi went on to set down the last nine WashU batters of the contest, clinching the regional title with a swinging strikeout.
Brianna Bougie (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) (7-4) collected the win for the Titans in the pitcher’s circle, allowing one run on two hits during the fourth inning in relief of starter Kiran Sanford (Two Rivers/Mishicot), who exited the contest following the lengthy rain delay. Sanford tossed three scoreless innings, surrendering just two hits while registering a pair of strikeouts.
Nardi notched her fourth save of the year and fifth career after going the final three innings in scoreless fashion. She allowed two hits and struck out one.
Wittman concluded the day 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base.
Wittman, who also drove in the game-winning run during the Titans’ 2-1 triumph against WashU on Friday, was named the Most Outstanding Player at the St. Louis Regional. Oshkosh’s Bougie and Nardi joined Wittman on the St. Louis Regional All-Tournament Team.
Katie Dolin had two of WashU’s six hits.
Bears staff ace Maria Brooks (18-2) was charged with the loss in relief after ceding two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. Both of Brooks’ losses this year were to Oshkosh.
WashU (30-7-1) and Oshkosh are ranked seventh and 15th, respectively, by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Oshkosh began its trio of one-run regional wins with a 1-0 decision in 12 innings over No. 3 seed Illinois College on Thursday (May 14). The Titans, who have advanced to the regional final each of the past four years, earned a regional title for the fourth time in the past 10 years and their fifth overall regional crown in program history (1988, 2017, 2021, 2024).
The Titans did not commit an error during any of their three regional contests and have now played errorfree on 27 occasions this year.
WashU, which was seeking its second regional title and first since 2007, fell to 21-3 at home this season. Oshkosh was responsible for two of the Bears’ three home setbacks.
Oshkosh and ninth-ranked Belhaven have met just once previously. Belhaven swept a doubleheader from the Titans by scores of 2-1 and 5-4 on March 17, 2006, in Pensacola, Fla. A full super regional preview will be published early next week.
Belhaven went 3-1 to win its regional as the top seed at home. The Blazers won by scores of 8-2 over Westminster College (Pa.) during the first round and 9-1 in five innings against Emory University (Ga.) the following day. Belhaven atoned for a 15-7 loss to Emory during the first regional championship game Saturday by ousting Emory, 4-0, in the winner-take-all tilt hours later.
Next week’s best-of-three-game series will mark the Titans’ third super regional appearance and their first not held at Trine University (Ind.). Oshkosh fell twice at Trine during the 2017 super regional round but shocked the defending national champion Thunder with a pair of victories on the final day of the 2024 super regionals.
UW-Stevens Point
WINONA, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (30-15) saw its postseason run end with a 1-0 defeat to Bethany Lutheran (33-10) in the NCAA Tournament Regional on Friday.
UWSP’s pitching once again shined. Kodi Rizzo (Newark, Ill./Newark Community) fanned five in 3.2 innings. Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) escaped a bases-loaded no-out jam and struck out four over 3.0 innings.
Kaitlyn Roberts (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) and Ella Smith (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) had UWSP’s lone hits, both singles.
Roberts had a two0out single in the bottom of the first. She stole second, her career-best 20th of the season, but remained there as the frame ended.
BLC turned a leadoff walk in the third into the only run of the game. Two singles plated the run for the Vikings.
Zygowski entered the circle in the fifth with no outs and the bases loaded. She coaxed an infield fly, struck out the next batter and got out of the jam with a fly out.
Morgan Harwood (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) was hit by a pitch in the sixth. Again, UWSP couldn’t push the run home.
In the seventh, Smith singled up the middle with two away. She was cut down attempting to steal second to end the game.
Zygowski closes out a stellar career with the most saves in Division III history with 33. She also finished second in school history with 417 in her career. Fellow senior Trinity Otto (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) led the Pointers with 36 RBI and seven home runs this season.
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