The Wisconsin softball team put together a mixed bag of sorts during its first doubleheader at home against Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.
In their home opener, the Badgers used a 5-run inning to beat the Wildcats 12-4 in six innings. In the second game, however, Wisconsin rallied late to tie the game but ended up falling to Northwestern, 10-6 in eight innings.
Despite the lopsided final score in game 1, Northwestern got on the board first. The Badgers (14-11, 3-2 Big Ten) didn’t waste time after that, jumping out to a 3-1 lead after one inning and runs from freshman Maria Van Abel and juniors Whitney Massey and Molly Spence. Wisconsin added to its lead in the second inning with doubles from sophomores Michelle Mueller and Mary Massei.
After the Wildcats (13-18, 1-4) had a three-run third inning to pull within one at 5-4, Wisconsin’s bats exploded in the fifth. The Badgers scored five runs on only four hits while taking advantage of two costly NU errors. Because of that, the mercy rule came into effect when junior Shannel Blackshear and freshman Marissa Mersch scored to extend UW’s lead to eight and give the Badgers the win in six innings.
Blackshear and sophomore Stephanie Peace both went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI each, while Mueller was a perfect 3-for-3 with 2 scores and one RBI in the opener. Sophomore Amanda Najdek got the nod at starting pitcher and improved her record to 3-0 on the year.
The second game was much like the first, as the Badgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the second inning. Northwestern followed that with two 3-run innings to take the lead at 6-4 until the bottom of the seventh inning. Blackshear, Peace, and sophomore Maggie Strange each had walks to help cut the Wildcats’ lead to 1 (6-5) before a player being hit by a pitch tied the score to send the game to extra innings.
The score stayed 6-6 until Northwestern’s Marisa Bast hit a grand slam in the top of the 8th inning to put the Wildcats up by four and to eventually give them their first Big Ten win of the season. Wisconsin’s rallying efforts came up short, as NU’s Meghan Lamberth pitched a three-up three-down inning to end the second game.
Sophomore Cassandra Darrah pitched a complete game for Wisconsin but fell to 9-6 on the year despite pitching a career-high 10 strikeouts. Junior Molly Spence scored twice to lead the Badger offense, while Mueller went 2-for-3 with a run and Peace went 1-for-2 with one RBI.
The teams will determine the series winner in a matinee game on Sunday at 2 p.m. at UW’s Goodman Diamond. Fans who aren’t able to see the game in person can watch it live on the Big Ten Network.
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