The struggles continued both at the plate and on the mound for the Wisconsin softball team (19-30, 3-16 Big Ten), as the Badgers dropped their sixth and seventh straight games at the hands of No. 9 Minnesota (43-8, 17-3 Big Ten) in the final home doubleheader of the season Wednesday night.
Game 1
With freshman starter Mariah Watts taking the mound in the opening game, the Badgers aimed to reverse their recent misfortunes against Big Ten competition. Similar to previous recent outings at home, the Badgers dug themselves an early hole in the opening frame, giving up a two-run double to Minnesota’s Kaitlyn Richardson.
Wisconsin managed to cut down the deficit in the bottom of the first after Chloe Miller drove home centerfielder Maria Van Abel with a double of her own. Kelsey Jenkins walked in the following at bat, putting two runners on with just one out. But Minnesota’s Sara Groenewegen avoided any further damage, retiring the side with a 2-1 lead.
Similar to the first inning, the Gophers tacked on another two-RBI double, building onto a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
A bomb from Jenkins over the left field fence would cut the lead down to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, but a two-run Gopher homerun in the seventh inning from Taylor Lemay served as the dagger for any Wisconsin comeback. The Badgers managed just five hits as Groenewegen struck out 13 in a 7-2 Minnesota victory.
With the Badgers playing through one of the most difficult parts of their schedule, head coach Yvette Healy looked beyond the final score of recent games and instead highlighted the positive moments from her underclassmen, namely pitcher Mariah Watts.
“I loved what Mariah brought to the table, I thought she threw a stellar game and I think we could’ve defended better behind her,” Healy said. “She missed a pitch late for the home run, but still awesome for a freshman. We’re really excited about that.”
Game 2
Minnesota picked up right where they left off in Game 1 with a leadoff triple from third baseman Sam Macken. A groundball single right up the middle from Danielle Parlich in the next at bat drove Macken home easily, and again the Badgers found themselves in a first-inning deficit.
A two-RBI single from Taylor Lemay extended the Gophers’ lead, but Wisconsin’s Taylor Paige Stewart managed to strand the bases loaded after forcing a pop out and strikeout to keep the score 3-0.
The Badgers worked together a two out rally in the bottom of the opening frame after a Chloe Miller double, a Van Abel infield single, and a walk loaded the bases up for freshman Sam Arents. Arents launched a bullet down the right field line, but Minnesota’s first basemen snagged it in the knick of time, saving what could’ve been multiple runs for the Badgers. It would be the last major scoring opportunity the Badgers would have against Gopher pitcher Nikki Anderson, who allowed just two hits on zero runs in her first four innings of work.
The pitching struggles continued in the second inning for Wisconsin as the Gophers’ Sara Groenewegen cleared the left center fence for a two-run homer. Similar to Watts, the Gophers seemingly jumped on any mistake Stewart made in the strike zone. The Gophers weren’t cutting any breaks for Stewart when she stepped up to the plate either: she was robbed of a single in her first at-bat a would-be single if not for an impressive diving catch by the centerfielder.
Greoenewegen’s second consecutive homerun in the top of the fourth capped off an all-around dominant day for the Gopher pitcher, extending the Minnesota lead to 6-0. A two-out RBI double from Madie Eckstrom off the left-field fence brought the Gophers within two-innings of a mercy-rule victory.
Going into the bottom of the fifth trailing 12-0, the Badgers needed to score 5 runs to avoid another mercy-rule loss. An error allowed Wisconsin’s Flugaur to score their lone run of the game, but the game ended 12-1 in five innings after the Badgers couldn’t climb within eight runs.
Reflecting on her final innings in center field at the Goodman Diamond, Van Abel described a moment that was a whole lot bigger than just the game at-hand,
“I’ve spent a lot of time out in that grass, so there’s a lot of good memories out there, and that’s definitely what I’ll hold on to,” Van Abel said. “At the end of the day, you don’t really remember how many runs you lost or won by, or if you struck out, and while I obviously like to go out with a win, it’s been really amazing. Being out in center that last inning, I was actually thinking a lot more about those things.”
