‘We’re no Cinderella’: UW Oshkosh softball ready for College World Series
OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – The UW Oshkosh softball team has qualified for the program’s third-ever NCAA Division III College World Series in Marshall, Texas, after winning the Angola Super Regionals.
“Do you know how ridiculous it sounds to say we’re going back to the World Series? Some teams don’t even make the national tournament,” senior first baseman Hannah Ritter said at Titans practice on Monday. Oshkosh last made the World Series in 2021.
Ritter earned Most Outstanding Player in the Super Regionals, a trip to Indiana that nearly ended early. The Titans faced off against the reigning national champs, Trine University, in a best-of-three series and were stunned in game one on Thursday.
“It actually wasn’t that hard to flush (game one) because there wasn’t really any aspect of that game that we played well,” head coach Scott Beyer said. The Titans gave up three runs in the first inning and lost 9-0 in five innings. It was Oshkosh’s first run-rule loss this season.
“We got siked out knowing the national champs were on our doorstep.”
After the loss, Ritter and fellow veteran Abby Garceau met with Beyer and apologized for the team’s performance. The team leaders promised they would play better. Beyer had faith and started a new pitcher in game two: freshman Brianna Bougie.
The Oshkosh West alum dominated, ultimately throwing six strikeouts in 14 innings over two must-win games. The Titans won game two 3-1 on Friday and forced a deciding game three, winning 5-2. Bougie earned the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Super Regionals.
“I try to push back all that pressure and try to make it seem like just another game,” Bougie said of her performance. Ritter thinks her freshman teammate can be too humble.
“I hope she knows how special what she did is. Because not everybody can go up there and say ‘I don’t care about yesterday, I’m shutting these guys down,'” the senior said of Bougie.
Though the Thursday loss to Trine stung, the Titans are grateful for how well they bounced back against the reigning champions no less.
“I don’t see how any game could be bigger than that,” Ritter said.
The Titans held their final practice in Wisconsin on Monday in the Rec Plex Dome before leaving for the World Series on Tuesday. After taking down last year’s winner, Beyer knows his team has a target on its back.
The Titans will face Virginia Wesleyan University on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in their first game of the College World Series.
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