UW swept by Gophers to end season

by Jordan Schelling

Monday, May 5, 2008 00:00

The Wisconsin softball team ended its season in a familiar fashion Sunday, losing to Minnesota 14-4 in five innings.

Sunday’s finale featured many of the things that plagued the Badgers all year as they jumped out to an early lead, only to let it slip away with a weak defensive performance.

“It epitomized the season as a whole,” junior Theresa Boruta said. “[However], regardless of what [was] at stake, I think we were still motivated.”

In the bottom of the first, junior Alexis Garcia gave the Badgers a 3-0 lead with a towering three-run home run to left field. Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as the Gophers answered back with five runs on five hits in the next inning.

Offensively, Wisconsin never was able to respond, adding only three hits and one run in the last four innings of play.

The Badgers once again had trouble with leaving runners on base and striking out frequently. With 24 strikeouts on the weekend, the team finished with 385 for the year, breaking the previous school record of 298 set by the 2004 squad.

“I think our problem is a mentality problem,” freshman Livi Abney said. “If we go up there and be more aggressive, we won’t keep putting ourselves in a hole. Today, I think everyone just wanted to help, so we were trying too hard and not seeing the ball well.”

Wisconsin’s defense didn’t fare any better than its offense, committing four errors and allowing 14 runs on 15 hits in only five innings. From the beginning, pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven didn’t appear to be 100 percent following a hand injury in Saturday’s game.

In the game, Vanevenhoven walked three and hit a batter while striking out just one in three innings. The junior allowed 12 runs to the Gophers, nine of which were earned.

“Did we let certain errors get the best of us? Yeah, we did,” Boruta said. “At that point, I think we were fighting a losing battle.”

Game one of the series on Saturday turned out to be an extra-inning thriller. After 10 scoreless innings, Minnesota broke through with four in the 11th to secure the 4-0 victory.

“It was like a mental marathon,” Abney said. “It’s hard to stay in a game that lasts that long; it was kind of like ‘whoever scores first will win.’ We played so hard and it’s so disappointing to lose, but that’s the game.”

Vanevenhoven and sophomore Letty Olivarez combined to shut down the Gopher hitters through the first 10 innings. The situation was complicated, however, as Vanevenhoven was forced from the game in the third after being hit on the hand by a line drive.

Olivarez entered and retired the only hitter she faced in the inning. Yet in the fourth inning, Wisconsin chose to re-enter Vanevenhoven in the game after her hand had been evaluated.

This decision would come back to haunt the Badgers in the late innings of the game. In the seventh, Olivarez returned following a leadoff walk and pitched four scoreless innings. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the sophomore surrendered a pair of singles in the 11th, the second of which ricocheted off her leg. With its top two pitchers unavailable, Wisconsin was forced to bring in freshman Kristyn Hansen, who had pitched only 30 2/3 innings prior to Saturday’s game.

Hansen was unable to stop the Gophers, allowing four of the six batters she faced to drive in a run.

“I’m not sure what we can do,” Abney said. “It’s been happening all year; if we had the answer we would probably try to fix it. The pitchers are doing well, but we’re not getting them the outs they also need, so that’s putting more pressure on them than they would have otherwise.”

The Badger offense looked as bad Saturday as it had all season, striking out 16 times in 11 innings while managing only two hits.

With two losses on the weekend, the Badgers became the first team in school history to lose 40 games as they finished with a 15-40 record, surpassing the 1996 squad for the most losses in school history.

“I don’t think a season could have gone any worse than this one has,” Abney said. “I’ve never really been a part of something like this, but I think it’s a true test of not only our team’s character but my character.”