Game Fifteen - #4 Eau Claire vs. #1 Oshkosh
OSHKOSH FORCES SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
EAU CLAIRE – UW-Oshkosh forced a second championship game with a 2-1 triumph over previously unbeaten UW-Eau Claire in the double elimination Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference fastpitch tournament at Gelein Field in Carson Park here Saturday afternoon.
The two teams will play again at 5:20 p.m. to determine the WIAC’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III championships which get underway next week.
Oshkosh is the WIAC regular season champion and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Eau Claire is the defending tournament champion but came in as the No. 4 seed. The teams split their first two tournament games with Eau Claire winning, 4-3, Friday night in extra innings and Oshkosh taking a 2-1 decision this afternoon.
Oshkosh will be playing its fifth consecutive game of the day, having battled through the losers’ bracket with wins over UW-Superior (4-0), UW-Stevens Point (3-1), UW-River Falls (9-6) and Eau Claire to reach the title showdown.
Oshkosh is ranked No. 11 in the most recent NFCA Division III poll and improved its season record to 34-8. Eau Claire stands 30-12 for the season after the loss to Oshkosh.
The Titans scored their two winning runs in the fourth on an RBI single by pinchhitter Amanda Baumann and an infield groundout by Amie Heinzelman. An Eau Claire error in the inning made one of the runs unearned.
Eau Claire cut the deficit in half in the fifth on an RBI single by freshman Bekki Kidnie who plated pinchrunner Katie Stalker after Jill Janke singled leading off the inning.
Eau Claire had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh before Ronessa Stampfli retired the final two batters to clinch the Titans’ victory. Stampfli scattered five hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Mallory McKinney started for the Blugolds and yielded four hits in four innings with one walk and one strikeout. Bri Sturm gave up two hits over the final three innings in relief.
