Sometimes winning one game out of two just isn’t good enough. That was the general attitude of the UW softball team after beating UW-Green Bay, 6-0, and then losing to them in the next game, 2-0.
The day started out well for the Badgers, as they were able to score four runs in the first inning of game one.
Leadoff batter Kerry Hagen started the inning by drawing a walk. Mandy Liles then cracked a single up the first-base line and Kristin Zacker followed her with a walk. With the bases loaded, Anna Jones strolled up to the plate and confidently blasted a powerful single that scored Hagen and Liles. Meghann Reiss followed suit as she drove in Zacker with a single of her own. Designated hitter Nicky Starry ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly to score Jones.
It wasn’t long before the Badgers posted runs again. In the second inning, Diana Consolmagno ripped a single past Green’s Bay’s second baseman while Hagen came up with a single to center field to advance Consolmagno to third base. Next in the order, Liles singled and was able to score Consolmagno. Once again, Jones hit an RBI single that scored Hagen.
There was no more scoring from either team the rest of the game, but that didn’t mean Badger pitcher Andrea Kirchberg wasn’t on the mound trying to break the team strikeout record she already owned. Kirchberg ended the game with 15 strikeouts, tying the record she set on two other occasions.
“I felt really well. I should have had a couple more, but 15 strikeouts wasn’t too bad, I guess,” Kirchberg said about her performance.
All in all, the Badgers dominated the Phoenix offensively and defensively in game one.
“First game we came out ready to play — good pitching good hitting, complete game and got the job done,” head coach Karen Gallagher said. “The momentum was there. They seemed fired up and very intense, taking care of business.”
The second game, however, was drastically different, as the Badgers hit an offensive cold spell.
The game was tied through the first four innings, as neither team could generate any offense, but in the fifth inning the tides changed for UWGB
Brenda Braumann started out the inning by drawing a walk. Next, Lisa Barker singled and Braumann moved to third base due to an error on the play. Connie Koceja loaded the bases when she reached first base on a fielder’s choice. Amber Techlin then stepped up to the plate and blasted a ball into shallow right field to score Braumann and Barker, the only two runs of the game.
In a somewhat unusual call, the inning was called to an end, as it was determined Koceja did not touch third base on her way home.
The Badgers were unable to mount a comeback, and the game ended 2-0.
What should have been two easy wins thus turned into one win and one loss, which did not sit well with the team.
“We shouldn’t have lost that second game. It doesn’t matter how we played in that first game, because we came back and looked like a totally different team in the second game,” Kirchberg said. “It doesn’t make a bit of difference how well we played in the first game. I am not very happy about it.”
Gallagher agreed with her pitcher and voiced her unhappiness with the loss.
“Those are the games you go: ‘What just happened and why?'” Gallagher said.
She continued, “This is a game you just shake your head at and you don’t know what to say. You try to be positive with your team, but I think it was a total lack of focus and a total lack of intensity. You can’t just roll over for any team. Green Bay is here to play ball, and you have to approach every game the same [way]. We have had these discussions throughout the year way too often, and we need to get over the hump. [The players] have to take it upon themselves and within themselves, what they need to do to step up and improve their games.”
