On Saturday afternoon, amid drizzling rain throughout the day, the Badgers were swept by the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes in heartbreaking fashion.
The first game of the doubleheader was a relatively uneventful 10-0 victory for Ohio State because the struggling Badger offense couldn’t figure out Buckeye ace Kim Reeder, as she scattered six harmless hits across seven solid innings. Reeder improved her record to 18-3 for the surging Buckeyes who are now 35-6 and have won 11 games in a row.
However, as has been the case all the year, the Badgers came out more mentally focused and physically prepared in the second game. And although they lost, the Wisconsin softball team played arguably their most complete game of the season.
It began with starting pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven barely getting out of the top of first inning unscathed as she walked the bases loaded but battled to get the final out on a deep fly ball to the warning track. In the bottom of the second, the Badgers did something they have rarely done this season: scored in bulk.
“I kind of figured we’d hit, that’s usually our mantra,” head coach Chandelle Schulte said. “We play to our opponent instead of to our own level.”
Vanevenhoven helped her own cause when she legged out a force play to second before a diving stop by Buckeye shortstop Alicia Herron created a force out. With runners on first and second, seldom-used outfielder Ashley Hanewich hustled out an infield single, which loaded the bases for light hitting Katie Soderberg. With the bases juiced, Soderberg knocked a double into the outfield, scoring all three runs, giving the Badgers the early 3-0 lead. Those three runs were the most the Badgers have scored over their past nine games.
“I knew my swing was feeling good going into today — I was ready,” Soderberg said.
In the bottom half of the third, with Theresa Boruta on second base, Karla Powell struck out, but reached base safely on the dropped third strike. Boruta, who had been running the whole way, motored around third, scoring the Badgers’ fourth run while Powell cruised into second.
“It was really nice actually [pitching with a lead] … It’s a shame we couldn’t come away with a victory” Vanevenhoven said.
In the top half of the forth, a passed ball with runners on second and third would have allowed the No. 15 Buckeyes their second run of the game, but first-year catcher Dana Rasmussen quickly recovered the ball and was able to tag the runner out at home.
In the bottom of the sixth, Soderberg came through in the clutch again. Runners on first and second with two outs, Soderberg roped a single that glanced off the pitcher and caromed into the outfield, scoring the Badgers’ fifth run.
“It’s nice when anybody on our team starts with some big momentum, I think it can turn the game around,” Soderberg said.
The top of the seventh began with a leadoff double followed by a two run home run by Ohio State’s Courtney Pruner, her eighth round tripper of the year. Vanevenhoven induced a deep fly ball out to speedy centerfielder Jen Krueger for the first out. After a single, triple, then strikeout, the lead had dwindled to one run, and up next for the Buckeyes was Sam Marder, a .389 hitter, who has 15 homeruns and 36 RBIs.
Vanevenhoven’s first pitch to Marder bounced a few feet in front of the plate, allowing the runner on third to tie up the game before Marder grounded out to third to end the inning.
“That’s the first complete game I’ve seen us play through ten minus the one,” Schulte said. “You’ve got to man up in those situations and we didn’t.”
The game dragged on and eventually converted into an 11-inning marathon, with Vanevenhoven pitching the whole way. In the top of the 11th, the Buckeyes’ Rebecca Schultz knocked in Pruner, giving Ohio State a 6-5 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
“I’ve said this all year. It’s not really a moral victory, you know? I mean not when you should win,” Schulte said. “I think our kids are upset and they should be — they feel like they didn’t do something they should have done.”
