Inconsistency has been a problem all season for Wisconsin’s softball team, and on Sunday it cost them a game and possibly the momentum to make a late-season charge.
The Badgers hosted Penn State for a doubleheader, winning the first game 8-3 and losing 2-0 in the second.
“We could have won both,” head coach Chandelle Schulte said. “That would be the third Big Ten victory we really lost an opportunity on. If we win three more games, then we are in fourth in the Big Ten.”
UW lost the second game, managing just two hits and a walk. Some of the players, however, felt the stats were misleading because they hit some balls hard right at the defense.
“It is extremely frustrating,” junior Theresa Boruta said. “We call it the ‘At-Em Disease.’ and we hit it right at them. You just have to remember, one at-bat to another, that you are hitting well and if you keep hitting well, then eventually you will find a hole.”
Despite being held scoreless, the Badgers were in the game the entire time thanks largely to a strong pitching performance from junior Leah Vanevenhoven. Vanevenhoven pitched a complete game, striking out eight and giving up only four hits. The two runs given up were unearned.
“I was able to move the ball in and out, which kept the hitters off-balance,” Vanevenhoven said. “My rise ball and drop ball were both effective, so I didn’t even need to use my curveball, and I kept mixing it up and I was able to frustrate the hitters.”
Vanevenhoven was hurt by two defensive miscues in the sixth inning — the Achilles’ heel of the Badgers all season — that led to two unearned runs. With two outs and a runner on first, Vanevenhoven induced a weak ground ball to the right side of the infield, but freshmen Livi Abney misplayed it. Penn State’s next batter, Desi Giordano, sent a deep fly ball to center, which was dropped by freshman Jennifer Krueger, scoring two runs.
“Our second baseman sat back on that ball, and you can’t sit back on that; she needs to attack that ball,” Schulte said. “And we have a dropped centerfield ball, so that is two mistakes. To me, that is not getting your job done.”
For the first game of the doubleheader Sunday, the Badgers were much more successful offensively, producing a season-high 11 hits that led to eight runs.
“We were really contagious with our hitting,” Boruta said. “That one person was getting on, or getting a hit, and then everyone else followed suit. With our team, everything seems to be contagious, whether it is hitting or our defense. As a team, we were able to feed off each other.”
Of the nine players who got an at-bat for the Badgers, eight of them recorded hits. Junior Valyncia Raphael led the team two hits and three RBIs, and sophomore Letty Olivarez picked up the win as she pitched six innings and didn’t give up a run.
Friday, the Badgers hosted a doubleheader against the top team in the Big Ten, No. 6 Michigan. The Wolverines showed the Badgers why they are the best in the conference, sweeping UW 12-4 and 7-2
“I think that we gave them two softball games,” Schulte said. “I think that the second game we allowed too many of their runners on without them even touching the ball. I think that they had the bases loaded and they never even put the ball in play. We threw the ball over the middle of the plate, and in the end we blew two softball games.”
In the second game of the doubleheader the score was tied 2-2 heading into the sixth, and the Badgers had a chance to steal one from the Wolverines. But everything went wrong for UW in the top of the sixth inning, however, as the Michigan scored six runs and busted the game open.
“Michigan is only going to be kept at bay for so long,” Schulte said. “And we had them at bay, and we would have been fine if we played to our abilities. If you make a mistake against these guys, they are going to kill it.”
Despite losing both games to UM, the Badgers can take solace in the fact that they averaged three runs per game against a team that only gives up an average of 0.6 runs per seven innings. Pitchers Jordan Taylor and Nikki Nemitz, who boast a 0.45 and 0.80 ERA, respectively, led Michigan.
“There is a silver lining, but you get tired of moral victories,” Schulte said.
