WAUKESHA, Wis. - Amanda Osterhus saved a little extra for an extremely rainy day.
Osterhus, a junior right-hander from Munster, Ind., clearly emphasized that point by pitching a gritty five-hitter with four strikeouts and one walk as the Carroll University softball team defeated high-powered University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 3-1 in a five-inning finale of a challenging, hard-fought nonconference doubleheader at Kilgour Field on Sunday afternoon.
The game was officially called heading into the bottom of the fifth as the result of heavy rain and storms pushing through the area.
It was a resilient come-from-behind signature victory for Carroll, which has won five of its last six and improved to 15-10 overall following the twinbill split with the Warhawks.
The impressive home-field performance took on historical significance as it was the Pioneers' first victory over UW-Whitewater since April 25, 2002 - (which came in a 1-0 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader).
The traditional national powerhouse Warhawks, who entered the doubleheader hovering just out of the top 25 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III poll, scored the first run of the game in the top of the first on an RBI single by senior shortstop Emily Rux.
The Pioneers answered with two runs in the bottom of the second, including an RBI sacrifice fly to right field by sophomore second baseman Jordan Wermund (Stevensville, Mich.), followed by what proved to be a clutch, two-out game-winning run-scoring single by senior right fielder Annika Graves (Muskego, Wis.).
Senior first baseman Kelsey Edwards (Rockford, Ill.) added an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth to help ensure a victory.
"We finally began to wake up toward the end of the first game and the momentum carried over into the start of the second," said Osterhus, a first-team College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin selection the past two seasons who was named the league's Pitcher of the Year following the 2018 campaign. "That's when we were able to string a few hits together, take the lead and gradually pull away.
"Looking back, it was nice to be able to come away with a win against a team like UW-Whitewater because they have been consistently good over the years. Having never beaten them before in my career, it was great to step up to the challenge and get the job done."
In the pressure-packed fifth with a runner on second and one out, Osterhus showcased her mental toughness and composure by working through the driving rain and muddy field conditions to prevent a potential rally - forcing back-to-back fly outs to ultimately end the game.
"When the rain began to get heavy in the final inning, it provided a little extra motivation to work quickly in order to get in and out of there," said the hard-throwing 5-foot-9 pitching ace who improved to 8-5 overall and currently has a 1.97 earned run average with 114 strikeouts through 77 2/3 innings. "It was a little tricky trying to keep the ball dry so I just used my glove as an umbrella at times and everything eventually worked out.
"Everyone did a nice job of working through the situation, making plays and contributing to the win. After being swept by North Central in the CCIW opener last weekend, one of our goals has been to come back and get as many victories at home as possible so we wanted to get this one to finish the day. This should continue to give us confidence as we prepare to get back into the next part of the conference schedule."
It was a warrior type of effort throughout the afternoon for Osterhus, who started both games and logged 10 innings in the doubleheader - yielding three earned runs on nine hits with 12 strikeouts and four walks.
Senior catcher Veronica Rodriguez (South Bend, Ind.) went 2-for-2 and scored a run for Carroll, which finished with four hits in the rain-shortened showdown. Junior left fielder Rosalie Jrolf (Dousman, Wis.) had the other hit for the Pioneers.
Carroll head coach Amy Gradecki was proud of her young team's determination and how it responded to the early deficit in the second game.
"Coming back after the first-game loss, it showed a ton of resilience in the way we played the rest of the way," said Gradecki, who earned her first career victory over UW-Whitewater during her tenure with the Pioneers. "They were using another one of their top pitchers and we not only hit them but scored when we needed to and came away with the victory.
"Amanda always throws the ball well but being a young team it doesn't always mean that we're going to consistently hit. Even though we fell behind 1-0 early on, we just kept hitting and that's when good things started to happen. UW-Whitewater is a top-25 program that often makes it to the NCAA Tournament so it was great to rise to the challenge, get the victory and take another strong step forward in our progression. It was a good way to end the day."