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WIAC Tournament at UW-Whitewater
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (21-8, 9-3 WIAC) have some unfinished business to take care of before heading to the WIAC Tournament this weekend in Whitewater. The Blue Devils are at
UW-Oshkosh (19-10, 6-4 WIAC), today, April 30 at 2 p.m. in Stout's final conference game of the season. The Titans are the only team that could pass the Blue Devils because they still play two conference games tomorrow, Tuesday, May 1 when they host UW-La Crosse. A split with the Titans today and the Blue Devils earn the second seed in the tournament. UW-Whitewater won the regular season conference title and will host the WIAC Tournament, May 4-6. In addition to Stout and Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and La Crosse all have chances to earn one of the five tournament bids.
UW-STOUT:
Mary Iliopoulos is leading the team and the WIAC in batting average, posting a mark of .557 (44-79) with seven doubles, two triples and two home runs with 13 runs batted in. Iliopoulos and
Kyncaide Diedrich have run wild on the base paths with Iliopoulos nabbing 22 in 23 attempts and Diedrich 21 in 22 chances. Diedrich is hitting .424 (28-66) with two doubles and three home runs and leads the team in RBI with 22.
Alicia Meyer and
Sommer Kunstmann also have three home runs.
Melea Bruns has earned a spot of the plate, and is hitting .409.
Beth Wood (.400, 36-90) leads the team in doubles with 13 and has driven in 21 runs. Meyer (.308, 20-65), Rachel Thoms (.337, 29-86) and
Renee Murphy (.309, 21-68) are hitting over .300. Wood has posted a 10-3 overall record, throwing 93.0 inning with 49 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.01. Bruns is 5-3 overall with 19 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched with an ERA of 2.52. Kunstmann is 4-2 overall with 20 strikeouts in 37 innings and an ERA of 3.03. Each has one save apiece. |
2018 Statistics
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils went 5-3 last week, 5-1 in conference play. |
River Falls Story and Statistics |
Eau Claire Story and Statistics |
Stevens Point Story and Statistics |
St. Thomas Story and Statistics
DOUBLE SACRIFICE: When
Rachel Thomas recorded two sacrifice flies in a 2-0 win over Lake Forest College, March 31, she joined a select group of Division III softball players. Hitting two sacrifice flies in a single game is not overly rare, but the NCAA does not keep the stat, nor does the WIAC. What is rare is to score the only two runs of the game in accomplishing the feat. Most games in an informal poll of Division III schools where two sacrifice flies were hit by the same player were in lopsided wins. It appears as if Thomas is the first UW-Stout player to do rap out to sac flies in a single game.
WIAC PRESEASON POLL: The Blue Devils were selected to finish fifth, according to a
WIAC preseason poll. UW-Whitewater was picked first, followed by UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire. UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point were chosen sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
WIAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Stout has grabbed the tournament title once, that coming in 2005 at UW-Whitewater. Overall, Stout is 24-38 in WIAC tournament games. Stout finished second in 1995, a year the tournament was held in Menomonie. Stout last hosted the tournament in 2014.
UW-OSHKOSH: Erika Berry is leading the way in average, hitting .427 (35-82) with 17 RBI. Amanda McIlhaney is batting .395 (30-76) with 19 RBI and three home runs. Kaitlyn Krol leads the team in RBI with 24 and is hitting .390 (30-77). In the circle, Claire Petrus is 10-7 overall with an ERA of 3.06. In 21 appearances, she has 41 striketouts, going 93.2 innings pitch. When Petrus picks up the bat, she can find her way on base, hitting at a .400 clip. Bailey Smaney has a 7-2 overall record in 15 appearances, recording a team-best 45 striketouts over 65.2 innings pitched. UW-Oshkosh brings back all nine starting position players from the 2017 team that posted the most victories (33) since the 2007 squad (36). The Titans also made the seventh NCAA appearance in program history – advancing to the Super Regionals – for the deepest run in the tournament since the 1988 campaign. A year ago, Abby Menting led the team with a .388 batting average, .643 slugging percentage, .487 on-base percentage, 50 hits, 34 RBI, 15 doubles and six home runs. She was the WIAC Co-Position Player of the Year in 2016. Erika Berry was second on the squad with 47 hits, 13 doubles, five home runs, while ranking third with a .333 batting average. | 2018 Statistics
TITANS LAST TIME OUT: Jordan Manthei drove home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning of the opener, Acacia Tupa hit a go-ahead home run during the sixth frame of the nightcap, and UW-Oshkosh pulled away for two WIAC softball victories at UW-Eau Claire on Sunday. | Game Story and Stats
LAST TIME STOUT AND OSHKOSH MET: In the WIAC Tournament, Kim Jablonski and Kyncaide Diedrich hit singles and Beth Wood brought them both home in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Stout a 2-1 win and put the Blue Devils one game away from the tournament championship game. During the regular season, UW-Stout lost a pair of one run home games to UW-Oshkosh to close out the regular season April 30, 2017, at Alumni Field. The Titans took game one, 1-0, then came back to score four run in the top of the seventh to hand the Blue Devils a 4-3, heartbreaking loss. | Game Stories and Statistics
NFCA RANKINGS: All of the WIAC have dropped out of the NFCA Division III poll. UW-River Falls is receiving votes. Currently ranked teams that Stout will meet or has met this year include: St. Thomas, 8th; Luther College, 9th; . |
NFCA Top 25 poll
BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 18-24 overall and 5-9 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament, finishing one game short of the conference tournament title game. |
2017 Statistics
TEAM CAPTAINS: The 2018 team captains are seniors
Rachel Thomas and
Beth Wood and junior
Kaylee Francois.
AWARDS AND HONORS: Mary Iliopoulos was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week, April 30, after hitting .517 over eight games...
Beth Wood was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week and the WIAC Athlete of the Week, April 24, after going 3-0 on the weekend over UW-La Crosse and UW-Platteville and delivering two game-winning hits over the weekend...
Kyncaide Diedrich was the Fastpitch News Division III national player of the week, March 21, after the Blue Devils' trip to Florida, stealing 17 bases and batting .559 with 17 RBI...
Mary Iliopoulos was the WIAC athlete of the week and the UW-Stout/Toppers athlete of the week selection March 20 after batting .692 in Florida...
Mary Iliopoulos was the WIAC athlete of the week Feb. 27 after going 4-of-4 in two games of the opening week...
2017:
Kaylee Francois was a first team all-WIAC selection, and
Beth Wood, McKayla Brunner,
Kyncaide Diedrich and
Rachel Thomas were honorable mention selections...
Kaylee Francois was selected the UW-Stout/DigiCopy Athlete of the Week April 12...Pitcher/infielder
Beth Wood and catcher/outfielder
Rachel Thomas were 2016 all-WIAC honorable mention selections..
COACHES: Blue Devil coach
Becky Iaccino (74-71 overall / 56-53 at UW-Stout) is in her third year as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Iaccino played professionally in Italy
from 2003 to 2011 and with the Italian National team from 2005-07. She has been the head coach at Marian University where she was selected as conference coach of the year, and has eight years of experience as an assistant coach at Division I and III programs.
UW-OSHKOSH:
Scott Beyer (131-59) enters his fifth season as UW-Oshkosh's head softball coach. He owns a 112-49 overall record with the Titans. Beyer has coached eight UW-Oshkosh players to 14 total all-region honors and eight players to 16 total all-conference awards, including 2015 WIAC Pitcher of the Year Sara Brunlieb and 2016 WIAC Co-Postion Player of the Year Abby Menting. In 2014, a program record-tying five Titans received all-region accolades. In Beyer's first four seasons at the helm, UW-Oshkosh has established new school records in batting average, doubles, triples, home runs, stolen bases, slugging percentage and fielding percentage.
GRAND APPEARANCE:
Katelyn Schobert hit not only her first collegiate grand slam, but her first collegiate home run with a bases-loaded round tripper against Westfield State College, March 16, 2018, in Clermont, Fla.
Alicia Meyer hit a grand slam against the College of Mount St. Vincent, March 14. Meyer had six RBI in the game. Previous to Meyer's grand slam, the last 4-RBI round tripper came March 8, 2013 by Alison Gray against St. Olaf College.
GRAND SLAMS (Since 2013)
Katelyn Schobert vs. Westfield State College, March 16, 2018
Alicia Meyer vs. the College of Mount St. Vincent, March 14, 2017
Alison Gray vs. St. Olaf College, March 8, 2013
ON DECK: The Blue Devils will be at the WIAC Softball Championship, May 4-6 at UW-Whitewater.
