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WIAC Softball Championship
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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (6-25, 0-14 WIAC) head into the WIAC Championship, Tuesday, May 11, when they travel to UW-Oshkosh (20-10, 10-4 WIAC) for a 2 p.m. first round game. With a win, the Blue Devils would travel to the second-round game, Thursday, May 13, at a site and opponent to be determined. The tournament wraps up with championship day, Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, if needed.
WIAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Stout has grabbed the tournament title once, that coming in 2005 at UW-Whitewater. Overall, Stout is 26-40 in WIAC tournament games. Stout finished second in 1995, a year the tournament was held in Menomonie. Stout last hosted the tournament in 2014.
THE 2021 WIAC SCHEDULE: Teams will play their usual 14-game regular-season league schedule, while the conference tournament has been expanded to eight teams with quarterfinal games between the No. 8 seed/No. 1 seed, No. 7 seed/No. 2 seed, No. 6 seed/No. 3 seed and No. 5 seed/No. 4 seed on May 11. The winning teams will advance to the semifinals on May 13. The quarterfinal and semifinal games will be hosted by the higher seed. The championship will feature the two semifinal winners in a three-game series on May 15 and 16 (if necessary) at the higher seed. The teams will also play several non-conference games among themselves.
2021 UW-Stout Schedule
Date / Opponent / Time or Result
Sat, Feb 27 / vs. UW-Superior / W 8-6, W 7-6
Fri, March 5 / vs. Bethel / L 12-0 (5); L 2-0
Sat, March 20 / at St. Thomas / L 12-4 (5); L 8-0 (6)
Sun, March 21 / at St. Benedict / L 13-4 (6); W 6-5
Wed, March 24 / at Luther / L 13-0 (5), L 9-5
Sat, March 27 / at Bethany Lutheran / canceled
Sun, March 28 / at Crown College / canceled
Thu, Apr 8 / UW-Eau Claire* / L 7-1, L 6-0
Sat, Apr 10 / at UW-La Crosse* / L 4-2
Wed, Apr 14 / at UW-River Falls* / L 5-3, L 4-3
Sat, Apr 17 / UW-Whitewater* / L 9-0 (6), L 5-4
Thu, Apr 22 / at UW-Eau Claire / W 11-8, L 8-0 (5)
Sat, Apr 24 / at UW-Platteville* / L 5-1, L 5-3
Wed, Apr 28 / UW-La Crosse* / L 9-3, W 4-3
Fri, Apr 30 / UW-Oshkosh* / L 12-0 (5), L 2-1 (8)
Sat, May 1 / UW-Platteville / L 4-2, L 4-0
Tue, May 4 / UW-River Falls / W 6-2, L 3-1
Fri, May 7 / UW-Stevens Point* / L 8-5, L 9-2
Tue, May 11 / WIAC First Round at UW-Oshkosh / 2 p.m.
Thu, May 13 / WIAC Second Round / TBA
Sat, May 15 / WIAC Championship / TBA
UW-STOUT: Stout carried a large, 25-player roster, led by seniors, first baseman
Meghan Kelly, catcher
Michala Belter and pitchers
Melea Bruns and
Sommer Kunstmann. Juniors Jessica Christianson,
Korin Hall,
Kelly Beck, Maddie Kleinschmidt,
Addison Murry,
Kaylee Peterson, and
Shannon Jones, sophomores
Kayli Pfeffer,
Kate Funk,
Allegra Larson,
Maggie O'Brien, and
Mackensie Wolterstorff, and freshmen
Ashley Jacobson,
Katelyn Belleau,
Taylor Mancl,
Alyssa Albrecht,
Jordan Caby,
Lexy Kupczak,
Amanda Shipley and
Bella Anderson make up the remainder of the roster. It was 356 days in between games from when the 2020 season was canceled to when the Blue Devils opened with UW-Superior, Feb. 27. Following a 19-18 overall record in 2019, Stout went 3-1 last season before the season came to a premature end after a pair of games March 8, 2020, in Rosemount, Ill. Practices resumed in the fall in a socially-distanced way and, at the beginning, in pods to keep the numbers down on the field. Indoor practice resumed in late January with the entire team working together.
Becky Iaccino begins her sixth season as the Blue Devil head coach. She is assisted by
Chris Iliopoulos, Jessica Stine and Sam Hintzman.
AT THE PLATE: Shortstop
Shannon Jones and outfielder
Jessica Christiansen lead the Blue Devils at the plate, both hitting .333. Jones is 30-91 at the plate with five doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI. Christiansen, who has raised her average by 125 points over the last two weeks, has 17 hits in 51 at-bats and looped her first career triple May 7 against UW-Stevens Point. First baseman
Meghan Kelly leads the team in RBI with 22 and his hitting .321 (26-81) and has brought her batting average up more than 30 points in the month of May. Kelly slashed a three-run home run against Stevens Point - her first of the year - and had five RBI in that game. Outfielder
Kaylee Peterson is hitting .309 (25-81) and has four doubles, a triple and nine RBI. |
Statistics
IN THE CIRCLE: Melea Bruns and
Sommer Kunstmann have taken on the majority of starts, but Maddee Kleinschmidt, Mackensie Wolfterstorff and
Jordan Caby have each started two games. Bruns has made 12 starts and Kunstmann 13. Kunstmann has 16 appearances with 66.1 innings pitched and a team-high 25 strikeouts. Bruns has made 15 appearances with 62.2 innings pitched and 19 strikeouts. Both Kunstmann and Bruns have recorded one save this season. Wolterstorff has made 10 appearances and Kleinschmidt 13 appearances. Wolterstorff is 1-1 and Kleinschmidt is 2-2, while Bruns is 2-11, and Kunstmann 0-9.
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout honored their five graduating seniors,
Michala Belter,
Melea Bruns,
Jessica Christiansen,
Meghan Kelly and
Sommer Kunstmann, throughout their conference doubleheader with UW-Stevens Point, but the Pointers spoiled the party by sweeping the day, 8-5, 9-2, May 7 at Alumni Field. The Pointers opened the day by scoring four runs in the opening inning of the day, but Stout cut the lead in half with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Christiansen opened the inning by slashing the first triple of her collegiate career, crushing the ball to deep center field. Following an out, Christiansen came home on Kelly's sacrifice fly.
Shannon Jones pounded a double to left field and came home on
Kaylee Peterson's RBI single. The Pointers made it 6-2 in the fifth inning. Megan Lawrence's RBI triple plated a run and she came home on Becca Geiyer's RBI single. Stout added a run on an error in the fifth. The Pointers scored a run in the sixth and seventh innings to make it 8-3.
Ashley Jacobson and Kelly each drove in a run in the seventh inning. Jones was 3 for 4 to lead Stout. Christiansen, Kelly,
Kayli Pfeffer and
Addison Murry each had two hits. Maddie Candre and Geiyer each had three hits for the Pointers. In the nightcap, the Pointers scored in every inning but the sixth and pounded out 14 hits. Stevens Point scored two runs in each the first and second innings before Stout got on the board in the second inning when
Kaylee Peterson scored on a passed ball. The Pointers ran out to a 9-1 lead. Stout added a final run in the seventh inning. Belter belted a two-out RBI double in her final at-bat at Alumni Field. |
Game Story and Statistics
SCOUTING UW-OSHKOSH: UW-Oshkosh is the WIAC regular season softball champion for the fourth time and first since 2007. The Titans have won five of their last six games. Hannah Ritter leads the Titans with a .500 batting average (53-106), and has a team-best 19 RBI and 10 doubles. With the most at-bats on the team, Ritter has struck out only three times, the fewest on the team. Natalie Dillon is hitting .479 (23-48). In the circle, Maddie Fink has started 13 games and made 10 appearances, while Mia Crotty has made 11 starts and 14 appearances. Claire Petrus has six starts in 11 appearances. Fink has 72 striketouts in 95.1 innings pitched. Crotty has 32 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. Fink has two saves and Crotty one. The Titans hold a 34-14 lead in the series and have won the last eight contests. |
Softball Website |
Schedule |
Coaching Staff |
Statistics |
LAST TIME OUT: UW-Oshkosh is the WIAC regular season softball champion for the fourth time and first since 2007. UW-Oshkosh secured a share of the league title by virtue of a doubleheader split at UW-La Crosse on May 7. The Titans downed UW-La Crosse, 3-0, behind a four-hitter by Maddie Fink in the opener before falling, 6-0, in the nightcap. In Friday's first game, Fink and UW-La Crosse starting pitcher Maddie Muelken were locked in a scoreless pitcher's duel until the Titans broke through with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Amanda Mc Ilhany sparked the UW-Oshkosh rally, drilling a one-out double to right field. Mc Ilhany advanced to third base on a wild pitch and, after a groundout for the second out, Ana Iliopoulos delivered a sharp single to left field that plated Mc Ilhany with the only run Fink would need. During the nightcap UW-La Crosse scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning and took control with a five-run sixth frame. |
Game Story and Stats
LAST TIME THEY MET: UW-Stout saw a tight second game of a conference doubleheader to UW-Oshkosh slip away in the final innings as the Titans captured the doubleheader sweep with wins of 12-0, 2-1, April 30 at Alumni Field. In the second game,
Sommer Kunstmann put together a solid performance in the circle, working 8.0 innings, and the defense was solid for the first six innings. After absorbing a five inning 12-0 first game loss, Stout's defense made a statement early. Left fielder
Kelly Beck ran down a deep foul fly ball to record the first out of the game, then snagged a more routine second flyout. Kunstmann forced a routine fly ball to third baseman
Kayli Pfeffer and Stout was out of the inning. Kunstmann was not overpowering - she recorded two strikeouts and those came late in the game - but she did allow the defense to do their job. Oshkosh (17-9, 9-3 WIAC), which moved into first place with the wins, sent no more than four batters to the plate in each of the first five innings. Stout got on the board first when
Shannon Jones lifted a pitch on a 1-2 count over the left field fence to lead off the sixth inning, to greet relief pitcher Maddie Fink, who had recorded the win for the first game. But Stout's defense faltered in the seventh inning when the Titans' Ana Iliopoulos reached first on an error. Iliopoulos moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home two out single to tie the game at 1-1. Stout got a runner to second in the bottom of the seventh, but that would be it. Kunstmann gave way to Maddie Kleinschmidt in the top of the eighth, but got into trouble when she hit the first batter, then gave up an RBI double. A second infield error in as many innings and a sharp single through the left side loaded the bases. Kunstmann returned and put the fire out, forcing two fly outs and her second strikeout of the game. The Blue Devils had an opportunity in the bottom of the eighth.
Jessica Christiansen beat out a bunt and, following an out, was moved to second on
Kaylee Peterson's sacrifice bunt. But Christiansen was stranded at second and the Titans recorded the 2-1 win. Kunstmann went 8.0 innings, the longest outing in her four-year career, allowing three hits, one unearned run, walking one and striking out two. Kleinschmidt was saddled with the loss, her first of the season. Jones was 2 for 4 at the plate. Christiansen and
Meghan Kelly each had a hit. The Titans recorded five hits, with Hannah Ritter going 2 for 4, recording two doubles. Fink recorded her second win of the day, working 3.0 innings, allowing two hits, one earned run, while walking one and striking out five. Claire Petrus worked 5.0 innings and struck out five. In the opener, Oshkosh scored five runs in first inning, sending 10 to the plate in the inning, added a run in the second, five more in the third and a solo home run by Morgan Rau in the fifth. The Titans pounded out 13 hits, to Stout's one. |
Game Story and Stats
COACH BECKY IACCINO: Blue Devil coach
Becky Iaccino (86-99 Stout / 104-119 overall) is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Blue Devils with the 2021 season. 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 Division III programs.
AWARDS AND HONORS: 2021:
Ashley Jacobson was selected as The Heights/UW-Stout Athlete of the Week after helping the. Blue Devils to an 11-8 win over UW-Eau Claire, April 22...
Korin Hall was named the WIAC position player of the week and
Mackensie Wolterstorff the WIAC pitcher of the week after a season-opening sweep of UW-Superior, Feb. 27.
ON DECK: The winner of the WIAC Championship earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
