Although the Wisconsin softball team was unable to get a win when they hosted Nebraska this weekend, it was still a special experience for the Badgers’ three seniors.

After dropping both games in Saturday’s doubleheader against the Cornhuskers, Wisconsin took on Nebraska Sunday in front of a sellout crowd that was treated to a ceremony before the game honoring Badger seniors Marissa Mersch, Maria Van Abel and Megan Tancill.

Unfortunately for the Badgers, Nebraska catcher Steph Pasquale soured the celebration quickly, hitting a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the Cornhuskers a 3-0 lead in would eventually turn into a 9-0 victory.

While the Badgers would have hoped for better results in this weekend’s three-game series, the electric atmosphere provided by Sunday’s sellout crowd allowed the senior weekend to still be a memorable one for Wisconsin.

The 1,612 in attendance Sunday was good for the second-most attendance game ever at Goodman Diamond.

Wisconsin head coach Yvette Healy praised the fans for their tremendous support and attributed the large turnout to the popularity the seniors have earned with fans through having local ties.

“I think having a crowd like that has a lot to do with three local kids on the field that are seniors.  We’ve got two Wisconsin kids and a Chicago kid, I think that really helps.” Healy said.  “That’s the atmosphere that every girl grows up dreaming to play in front of.”

Senior outfielder Maria Van Abel also spoke after the game about how much she and her teammates appreciated the turnout.

“It was amazing.  You couldn’t ask for more your last home series, series weekend.  To see extra bleachers in the outfield, the stands literally filled with red, that’s all our team can ask for,” Van Abel said.  “It was a pretty special day, and we’re excited that there were so many people here to share it with us.”

Van Abel has come a long way since coming to Wisconsin as a freshman.  The senior Badgers outfielder started out as a walk-on her freshman year before ultimately earning a scholarship.  Van Abel’s story parallels that of the Wisconsin softball program, which has grown immensely since head coach Yvette Healy took over in 2010 and led a program turnaround that culminated in a Big Ten championship in 2013.

“When we came in, the culture was changing, the coaches were doing their best to kind of get things back on track, and what they’ve done in the past five years has been unheard of really when you think about where the program was,” Van Abel said.  “It’s on the rise so that’s really exciting knowing that we’re leaving the program in such good hands.”

In addition to enjoying the packed house, pre-game ceremony and beautiful weather, Van Abel said she appreciated just playing with her fellow seniors, who are all extremely close with each other, as much as anything else.

“Us three seniors have been together for fours years now,” Van Abel said.  “We lived together the last two, so we’re a really close group, and it was just fun to have our family and friends here.”

While this season has not brought the same results as the last several seasons for the Badgers, Healy said her seniors have done an excellent job holding down the fort while paving the way for the program to have success in the future.

“The class has definitely helped us stay afloat.  When you’ve get a couple of local kids that are walk-ons that become scholarship kids for your senior class, it helps you find a bridge to get there,” Healy said.  “I think your culture has everything to do with being good, and these seniors helped us really establish a great hardworking championship culture.”

Healy also added that losing the game Sunday did not take away from how special it was to celebrate this year’s seniors.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for them and what they’ve done for the program.  It’s fun to celebrate them,” Healy said.  “Those relationships are what’s going to matter years from now rather than the wins and the losses.”

While Wisconsin celebrated their seniors this weekend, Mersch, Tancill and Van Abel will still get to play one more series at Goodman Diamond when they play host to the Minnesota Gophers Wednesday for a doubleheader.