[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

The Wisconsin softball team learned the hard way that little things can make a big difference. Although the game was still tied 0-0, the sixth inning proved to be a turning point that drove the Badgers down a losing path.

Through five innings the game was a classic pitcher’s duel, in which UW had only mustered two singles and Northern Iowa had yet to record a hit. UNI made a pitching change to begin the sixth inning, however, and it appeared that the Badgers were ready to bust the game open.

Senior Joey Daniels led off the inning with a sharp single and advanced to second on an error. Junior Theresa Boruta followed with a bunt single that moved Daniels to third, and junior Valyncia Raphael drew a walk to load the bases. And then it all unraveled from there.

Cleanup hitter Alexis Garcia recorded the first out with a line drive. Sophomore Letty Olivarez struck out on three pitches for the second out, and freshman Jennifer Krueger hit a weak grounder to third base to end the inning. Just like that, after the bases were loaded with no outs, the Badgers failed to score a run.

“You just can’t do that,” assistant coach Julie Wright said. “If we hit a fly ball there, we have speed at three and speed at two, and we will score. That was all we were looking for. We were hitting the ball so hard, and I wonder if some kids didn’t tighten up in a big moment. You never want to see that happen because you will not win close softball games when you can’t score with the bases loaded.”

After failing to score in the bottom of the sixth, the Badgers appeared to have lost the momentum, which led to mistakes, including a three-run homer in the top of the seventh.

“It’s hard to say, but yeah, I think when you get all that momentum going and you come away with nothing, it is tough to deal with,” Wright said.

The Badgers have been stung all season by failure to execute in key situations. The team, however, believes that the problem is fixable and will not haunt them for the rest of the year.

“We are going to work a lot on pressure situations in practice,” Wright said. “We will put them out on the field, and put a BP pitcher up there, and give them some situations to work on. They know what they have to do, mentally; it is just a matter of executing.”

On the positive side, UW felt like they were getting good at-bats all game, but they were just hitting the ball right at people. In particular, senior Lynn Anderson and junior Ricci Robben had been slumping, but they each hit the ball hard several times, resulting in three singles.

“I felt like we hit the ball probably as solid as we have hit the ball in several games,” Wright added. “So I was pleased with that.”