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The University of Illinois-Chicago spoiled the Wisconsin softball team’s home opener at Goodman Diamond Tuesday, outlasting the Badgers in a 10-inning marathon for a 4-3 victory.

In what was the team’s longest and most dramatic game of the season, time seemed to run out for UW.

Wisconsin continues at home Wednesday with a double-header against Loyola University at Goodman Diamond. The first game is scheduled for 4 p.m., with the second game beginning about a half-hour after the first.

The Illinois-Chicago game began as a pitchers’ duel, with the Badgers and the Flames swapping two scoreless opening innings. Then the Flames struck first. A triple from Joyce Cathey followed by a double by Cameron Astiazaran put UIC up 1-0 in the third.

The Flames continued to keep the Badgers’ bats quiet while Wisconsin errors led to UIC scoring a run in both the fourth and fifth, extending the Flames’ lead to 3-0. Wisconsin’s starting pitcher, sophomore Sara Gonzales, was knocked out in the fifth inning.

In the bottom half of the fifth, however, the Badgers’ bats came alive with two outs. With freshman centerfielder Sam Polito on third, junior catcher Boo Gillette scored the Badgers’ first run of the game with a bloop single down the right-field line.

Not to be outdone, sophomore second baseman Emily Friedman smoked a double to the wall in the left-center gap, and Gillette scored from first. At the end of five, the Badgers had closed the lead down to one, 3-2.

Replacing Gonzales in the fifth was Wisconsin junior Katie Layne, who dominated the Flames from the onset. Layne at one point retired seven straight from the fifth through seventh innings, keeping Wisconsin within one.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Badgers led off with a walk by junior shortstop Kris Zacher and a single by Gillette, but the next two batters for UW both flied out. With Illinois-Chicago one out away from securing victory, however, senior first baseman Meghann Reiss came through for the Badgers and delivered a single to send Zacher across the plate and push the game to extra innings.

Layne continued to dominate the Flames, and the game looked to be a stalemate, as neither team threatened to score until the 10th, when the Flames put the first two runners on in the top of the inning. Layne recorded two outs but gave up a single to the Flames’ Nicole Shephard, who scored Sara Hernandez for the go-ahead run.

The Badgers had a chance in the bottom half of the 10th with a runner on first and two out. Left fielder Diana Consolmagno dribbled a grounder to first and beat the ball to the bag, but pinch runner Natalie Phillips was caught trying to reach third on the play, ending the game.

Despite the outcome, several Badgers had strong performances. Reiss had a career-best three-hit game, while junior DH Stephanie Chinn and Gillette both had two hits.

In her relief effort, Layne pitched five and a third, giving up only one run on seven hits with three strikeouts.

The Badgers also showed a lot of resilience and clutch hitting with their comeback. They scored every one of their runs with two outs.