[media-credit name=’DEREK MONTGOMERY/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Following a two-game sweep of Ohio State Friday and Saturday, the UW softball team hosted Penn State Sunday at Goodman Diamond, hoping to get off to their best conference start since 2002, when the Badgers started 3-1 in the Big Ten.

It was mission accomplished for Wisconsin (12-12, 3-1 Big Ten) as they split the double-header, winning game one 6-5 in dramatic fashion before falling 7-1 in game two.

Game one, which got off to a rocky start, saw sophomore ace Eden Brock start for Wisconsin.

The Nittany Lions, already leading 1-0, broke the game open with a three-run third inning. After a pair of singles and an ensuing sacrifice bunt, Penn State had runners on second and third, setting the stage for Leigh Murray, who came mere inches from a three-run homer, blasting the ball 220 feet to left center and hitting the top of the fence on the fly. Murray easily reached second and plated the two Penn State runners, making the score 3-0.

Another single had runners on the corners, prompting Penn State to attempt a successful suicide squeeze. Brock could not connect with senior catcher Boo Gillette on the play, and the ball rolled all the way to the backstop, allowing the bunter to advance to second, with still only one out. Wisconsin regrouped though, and was able to end the inning trailing 4-0.

Brock settled down, and Wisconsin began to claw their way back into the game, beginning in the bottom of the fifth. After drawing a walk, senior first baseman Meghan Reiss was taken out for a pinch runner, junior Melissa Trainor. Trainor went on to steal second and advance to third on a passed ball, all with two outs. Sophomore Sam Polito then ripped a triple to the wall, bringing home Trainor and narrowing the Penn State lead to three.

Wisconsin struck again in the sixth, when Kristin Zacher scorched a triple off the wall and was driven home by freshman Ricci Robben two batters later, bringing the score to 4-2. After a Penn State pitching change, freshman third baseman Joey Daniels moved Robben up to third with a single. Anastasia Miller drove Robben home with a double to right, bringing Wisconsin within one, with runners on second and third and one out.

Penn State escaped further damage in the inning, though, and seemed to crush the UW comeback when they led off the seventh with a home run by Ashley Esparza, who swatted a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall and restored the Penn State lead to two. After another single, Brock was pulled, and senior Katie Layne entered the game. Layne killed the Nittany Lion rally, despite loading the bases.

“I knew we had a pretty good shot of having a comeback, starting out with the top of our order, after Katie got us out of that huge jam,” head coach Karen Gallagher said.

The Badgers proved their coach right, opening the seventh and final inning with a trio of singles to load the bases for their top slugger, Gillette, with none out. Gillette was punched out on three pitches however, giving Robben another RBI opportunity.

The newcomer capitalized by drawing the bases loaded walk, making the score 5-4 with the bases still juiced and only one out. Daniels struck out for the second out, leaving Miller in the ultimate pressure situation — two out in the bottom of the final inning with the bases loaded and her team trailing by one.

Miller drew the count to 1-1 before hitting a hot grounder to short. The Penn State shortstop was partially screened by Zacher, who was running from second and narrowly avoided kicking the ball. The ball got by the shortstop and dribbled into center, allowing freshman Katie Hnatyk and Zacher to score and steal the game from Penn State.

In a moment of comedy, Penn State failed to realize Wisconsin had just won the game when Zacher crossed the plate, and went on to complete a lengthy run-down on Miller, eventually tagging the Badger, but for naught as UW claimed the 6-5 victory.

In game two of the double-header however, Wisconsin looked like they had finally run out of gas after coming from behind in the first three games of the weekend. Wisconsin started sophomore Megan Smith and from the get-go she did not seem to be in rhythm, giving up four runs in the first inning. UW would have to complete another comeback to get the sweep.

It would be too much for the Badgers though, as they never really threatened Penn State in falling 7-1, managing a meager two hits off of pitcher Esparza. The lone run was delivered by Gillette in the bottom of the second, when she hit an absolute moon shot over the fence in the deepest part of park, clearing it by at least 15 feet.

“They were tired,” Gallagher said. “I thought that after the first game’s comeback they would come out energized, but I guess you can have only so many comebacks in a weekend.”

Despite the game-two blowout, Gallagher was pleased with her team’s play, both on Sunday and throughout the weekend.

“Whenever you have comeback victories it gives your team momentum, and I think we were really carried by that,” Gallagher said. “Taking three out of four in the first weekend is great. A lot of teams would love to be in our position. You have to take advantage when you play at home, and we did that.”