Maybe it was the strong wind blowing in from the lake. Or maybe it was the familiar lack of hitting and untimely mental errors. Either way, the University of Wisconsin softball team lost its eighth game in a row after being swept by Notre Dame in a doubleheader.
After losing the first game 5-0, the Badgers dropped a 4-2 decision in the series finale to fall to 12-30 on the season. Both games were marked with a single inning that changed the tide in favor of Notre Dame.
In a departure from their tendency to sleepwalk through the first game and come to life in the second, the Badgers gave a consistent effort in the doubleheader. Junior Letty Olivarez held the potent Fighting Irish offense to just one run until a messy seventh inning where they tacked on four more.
“It’s pretty frustrating because obviously we’ve been struggling all this time … and then here comes that bad inning and we just blow it ourselves,” Olivarez said.
Miscommunication and walks led to things falling apart for the UW pitcher in the seventh. Notre Dame gave Wisconsin a gift when a runner left early from third, an automatic out. The situation was only exacerbated by the wind that gusted in from the outfield. Throughout the series, the wind caused the Badgers outfielders to misjudge at least three fly balls.
“In defense of the kids a little bit, the wind was really bad,” head coach Chandelle Schulte said. “I have expectations [they] should be able to make those plays, but that was tough.”
As much as the wind hindered Wisconsin, it seemed to help Notre Dame. UW’s Livi Abney appeared to have a bloop hit into right field early in the first game until it hung up in the wind long enough for the Notre Dame second baseman to make an outstretched catch. The gusts also seemed to slow in time for ND’s Alexia Clay to hit an opposite field home run against Leah Vanevenhoven in the second game.
There were bright spots for the Badgers in the series though. Outside of the seventh innings of both games, UW gave up just three runs total. In each game, Wisconsin held Notre Dame to under its average of 5.60 runs scored. UW also turned down two double plays, one coming with one out and the bases loaded. And down 2-0 in the second game, the Badgers finally strung together quality at bats to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning.
After catcher Dana Rasmussen drew a one-out walk, Krueger slapped a hard hit ball over a drawn-in outfield for a triple and her first RBI of the season.
“Coach Schulte just told me she noticed the outfielders were playing in really far, so if I just got a hold of anything, I was going to be running for a while,” Krueger said.
While most of Krueger’s hits are grounders or bloops she beats out at first, there was no doubt she was going for extra bases on that hit. Third baseman Theresa Boruta followed up with a bloop single to right field to tie the game.
“It is exciting. We haven’t scored a lot and [though] just as exciting as it is there, [it’s] just as bad as it is in the seventh inning to go behind,” Schulte said. “You want to capture that momentum. Had we kept [it], I thought we had a good shot at winning in the (bottom of the) seventh.”
The untimely Notre Dame home run in the top of the seventh made it 4-2 though, and Wisconsin’s hitting fell back to earth in the bottom of the inning. UW’s offense managed just five hits and drew two walks in the series, while Notre Dame’s Brittney Bargar and Jody Valdivia combined for 18 strikeouts.
“We knew that they were coming in and out and in and out, but instead of [staying with] our plan and waiting for one specific in or one specific out, we were chasing what they wanted us to chase,” Olivarez said. “We should have known what was coming.”
In the end, it was a familiar result for Wisconsin. Schulte said that while there were signs of life in the series, someone needs to decide to be the catalyst if the Badgers are going to get another win.
“Something’s gotta change. Somebody’s gotta step up and change the course of the game,” Schulte said. “I don’t think it’s really adjustments at this point, it’s confidence. Somebody’s gotta hit the ball, and [then] other people will.”
