Wisconsin finished the regular season strong this weekend, but its season is still over.
Wisconsin (21-31, 5-17 Big Ten) started off the three-game series Friday with a 5-1 victory over Rutgers. The following day, the Badgers made it two in row, beating the Scarlet Knights (29-12, 11-12 Big Ten) 3-1.
A win Sunday would have made it a sweep for the Badgers, but they were unable to close out the Scarlet Knights, who rebounded with a 3-2 win to keep UW from a series sweep in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
In Friday’s series opener, Wisconsin got it done with their pitching, limiting the Scarlet Knights to just one run. That was the fewest runs UW had allowed in a game throughout its entire Big Ten season.
After both teams went scoreless in the first three innings, the Scarlet Knights walked senior Marissa Mersch with the bases loaded to put the Badgers ahead. In the same inning, junior Ashley Van Zeeland extended Wisconsin lead to two with a sacrifice fly.
Three innings later, Chloe Miller belted a two-run RBI double to double Wisconsin’s lead. UW eventually increased its lead to 5-0 heading into the final frame and won the game 5-1.
Miller told UWBadgers.com after the game of how she came to the plate looking to make up for her early woes at bat.
“After getting struck out twice, I came back with some redemption,” Miller said. “I’m just working toward getting more doubles.”
Wisconsin starting pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart was excellent for the Badgers. The Badgers’ ace went 6 1-3 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits.
According to Stewart, this win meant a lot to her team.
“Any Big Ten win that you get is something for the program so you have to be happy with everything you get,” Stewart said.
Game two for Wisconsin was all about freshman standout Kelsey Jenkins, who carried the Badgers to the victory. Jenkins belted three home runs, which matched her season total entering the series.
Jenkins’s first homer came in the first inning when she followed up a Maria Van Abel single by going deep to give the Badgers a quick 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Jenkins put one over the center field fence on a solo shot to extend Wisconsin’s lead to three.
Then in the sixth inning, Jenkins hit another solo home run to give her three for the game and tie Wisconsin’s school record for home runs in a game.
The four runs Jenkins drove in would prove to be more than enough support for Stewart, who was stellar on the mound for the second straight day.
Stewart pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits while striking out four.
In the final game of the series, Stewart took the mound for the third straight day and remained in excellent form, but Wisconsin wasn’t able to get the same performance out of their bats besides that of Jenkins.
Jenkins continued her hot hitting, knocking in two more runs for the Badgers, but her two RBIs would prove to be the only runs Wisconsin would score on the day.
Stewart gave up three earned runs in six innings of work, making it 19 1-3 innings for her on the weekend.
Through the first six innings, Stewart gave up just two runs as the game stayed tied heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. But with one swing of the bat, the Scarlet Knights won the game in walk-off fashion. Rebecca Hall deposited Stewart’s first pitch over the wall in left-center to give Rutgers the 3-2 win.
Despite the two wins, Wisconsin will not take part in this week’s upcoming Big Ten tournament due to a new tournament format this season that doesn’t include the bottom two teams.
As the 13th team conference standings, Wisconsin will not participate in the postseason, marking the first season under head coach Yvette Healy that UW has finished under .500.
