The win streak lasted all of three days as the University of Wisconsin softball team battled through rain and its own sloppy play in being swept 10-0 and 5-0 by No. 9 Michigan at home Saturday.
The Badgers sat through three rain delays in the two games as scattered thunderstorms rolled through the Madison area. The second game was suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning and eventually called off, though the game will count as the teams completed at least five innings.
The first game was a battle of two of the Big Ten’s four southpaws, with Leah Vanevenhoven starting for the Badgers and Nikki Nemitz getting the nod for the Wolverines.
It was a classic pitcher’s duel until Michigan scored two runs in the fifth inning. Nemitz hit one of her two doubles in the game to lead off the inning and advanced to third on one of Vanevenhoven’s four wild pitches. With UM’s Teddi Ewing batting, UW catcher Dana Rasmussen tried to pick off Nemitz at third, but the ball slipped by shortstop Katie Soderberg into left field, allowing Nemitz to score. The first rain delay was called soon after and the second UM run scored on a wild pitch after play resumed.
“All of the rain [Saturday] obviously made it tough to play in,” UW head coach Chandelle Schulte said.
UM leadoff hitter Steph Kirkpatrick went 2-for-5 with four walks and 3 RBI’s on the series to lead the Wolverines. Michigan slugger Amanda Chidester was held in check, however, going 0-for-7 with a sacrifice fly for an RBI. Vanevenhoven and Jen Krueger both had two hits for the Badgers.
Vanevenhoven, starting her fourth game in the last week, was pulled for Letty Olivarez in the sixth. Olivarez had been sitting out of the game with flu-like symptoms, and it showed in her pitching, as Michigan tacked on three more runs in the inning and five in the seventh to put the game out of reach for Wisconsin.
Control issues plagued the Badgers’ pitchers all afternoon as they combined to issue 12 walks and throw nine wild pitches in the doubleheader.
In addition to shaky pitching, UW’s offense was its usual anemic self, being shutout for the 17th and 18th times of the season. The Badgers mustered only six hits and two walks in the series and looked overmatched at times by the Wolverines pitchers.
Wisconsin had an opportunity to take the lead in the third inning of the first game, loading the bases with one out. But Theresa Boruta and Livi Abney struck out swinging to end the threat and UW would manage only six more baserunners in the series.
“I thought we did a good job at the plate in game one against the Big Ten’s best pitcher getting five hits off of Nemitz,” Schulte said. “But we were unable to get those runs home, a problem we have had all season.”
In beating the Badgers, Nemitz reached the 20 win mark for the third consecutive season. She lowered her Big Ten-leading ERA to 0.74 and had nine strikeouts.
Wisconsin had just as little success against game two starter Jordan Taylor, who gave up just one hit and two walks in five innings of work.
The series capped off a week where Wisconsin faced five of the conference’s best pitchers. Every starter the Badgers have faced since April 18 ranked in the top 10 in the conference in ERA, wins and strikeouts. Wisconsin went 1-5 in those games.
Michigan pushed its win streak over Wisconsin to 14 and also has never lost a game at Goodman Diamond. The Wolverines have won their last 15 games of the season, with their last loss on March 22 at Northwestern.
