Badgers knock out Panthers, 6-2
Led by another strong hitting performance from junior Boo Gillette, the University of Wisconsin softball team knocked off Northern Iowa 6-2 Thursday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Badgers out-hit the Panthers 11-4, including two from Gillette, who went two-for-four with an RBI.
With the win, Wisconsin improves to 26-21 overall, while Northern Iowa falls to 10-29.
UW is currently 5-7 in Big Ten play. The Badgers play again April 25, when the team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the conference-leading Wolverines in a doubleheader.
In the Iowa game, UW sophomore Sara Gonzales received the pitching nod, working seven innings for her fourth complete game of the season.
The Panthers struck first when Tracy Davis led off the second inning with a walk and came around to score from second on a single off the bat of Lindsey Gierman.
The Badgers responded in the fourth when Diana Consolmagno started the frame with a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Panther balk. Tara Hamilton followed with a single to center, advancing Consolmagno to third.
Kaitlin Reiss then took advantage of the opportunity, sending a single down the right-field line to score Consolmagno and move Hamilton into scoring position.
With the score knotted at one, Natalie Phillips walked to load the bases for the top of Wisconsin’s order. Freshman Sam Polito stepped up and drove a single to left, scoring Nicole Simmons, who came in to pinch-run for Hamilton. Athena Vasquez followed with a single of her own, driving in Reiss. Kris Zacher tacked on one more, as her sacrifice fly to center brought in Phillips to give the Badgers the 4-1 advantage.
Wisconsin added another run in the sixth inning when Vasquez worked a two-out walk and moved up as Zacher sent a single through the left side of the infield. With a runner in scoring position, Gillette hit a single to right to bring home Vasquez.
The Panthers responded in the bottom half of the frame with a Rachael Rogers RBI single to right.
Wisconsin responded by scoring one more run in the seventh, as Ana Miller began the inning with a single to left and reached second on Hamilton’s sacrifice. Miller moved to third on a fielder’s choice and touched home as Phillips sent a single into right.
— compiled from staff reports