Wisconsin struggled to find ways to manufacture hits, let alone runs in the opening game of the 2014 NCAA regionals. That lasted until senior Mary Massei took the first pitch she saw in the sixth inning over the left field fence.
It was her 10th home run of the season, and the only hit out of the infield for the Badgers on the day. UW wrapped things up in the top of the 7th by throwing out Albany’s pitch-runner, Kayla Bailey, was thrown out trying to advance to 3rd on a wild pitch.
The first ever back-to-back appearances for Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament also came at the familiar grounds of Oregon’s Howe Field. However, one wouldn’t know the Badgers had an advantage in this one, as Albany hung with Wisconsin until the bitter end.
Neither team could break through after four innings, as neither team could manufacture a hit to save their lives.
UW had some early trouble though, as Darrah took 41 pitches to get through the first two innings of work, however she would use only 62 more through the next five innings. Darrah was on point from the second inning on, allowing four hits while striking out six and walking just two Great Dane batters.
It was her performance in the circle and some timely defense that kept Wisconsin in this one.
UW’s first real scare came in the fourth inning, as Albany’s leadoff hitter, Kelly Costello, got on board thanks to a fielding error and the next batter reached on a throwing error. It led to runners on the corners with no outs, however Charlise Castro popped out to shortstop Ashley Van Zeeland.
A very timely piece of bad base running and hitting gave the Badgers the outs they needed, as Erica Snow struck out swinging and Maggie Cocks was thrown out trying to advance to second.
However, it wasn’t the end of danger for Wisconsin, as UW went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth and faced more issues in the top half of the fifth.
The first hitter Albany brought to the plate, Marlin Solano, singled on a grounder up the middle. After a pop up out, Albany repeated the feat, with Jessica Tate singling up the middle. With one out, Albany had runners on first and second and was threatening to score again.
Just like the inning before, UW found its way out of the jam with a pair of force-outs at third base and came away from the two disaster innings still tied at 0-0.
UW broke through one barrier in the bottom of the fifth, as Van Zeeland singled after beating out a close throw from the shortstop. However, UW could advance her no further and the threat was left on first base.
Van Zeeland’s hit would be the only one of the game outside of Massei’s home run in the very next sequence of at-bats for Wisconsin.
Wisconsin also managed to walk just three times on the afternoon, but will advance in to the winner’s bracket of the Oregon regional.
Next up is a matchup with the winner of the Oregon vs. Utah Valley game from tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 1p.m. CT tomorrow afternoon.
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