Game Fourteen - #1 Oshkosh vs. #3 River Falls
OSHKOSH FIGHTS BACK TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
EAU CLAIRE – UW-Oshkosh fought its way back into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game with a 9-6 decision over UW-River Falls at Gelein Field in Carson Park Saturday afternoon.
The win vaulted the top-seeded Titans into the championship game against unbeaten UW-Eau Claire which sent Oshkosh into the losers’ bracket Friday afternoon with a 4-3, nine-inning setback.
River Falls, which had been sent into the losers’ bracket with a 2-0 loss to Eau Claire in the previous game Sataurday, ended its season with a 32-12 record.
Mindy Rudiger led off the game with a home run to give River Falls its only lead but Oshkosh scored three runs in each of the second and third innings to go up 7-3. River Falls came back with three in the fourth as Rudiger hit her second round tripper of the game, a two-run blast, and Emily Howlett drilled a solo shot. However, with the score 7-6, Titan ace Ronessa Stampfli came on to shut the Falcons down for the final three and a third innings and pick up the win. She struck out seven and allowed just two hits in her stint.
Titan leadoff batter Amie Heinzelman matched the tournament best with four hits in four at bats. She drove in three runs and scored twice.
Oshkosh, the No. 11-ranked team in the NFCA Division III poll, takes a 33-8 record into its championship game matchup with Eau Claire.
