When Michigan State first baseman Elizabeth Peterson bowled over Wisconsin catcher Joey Daniels in the bottom of the fourth inning of Saturday’s contest, it wasn’t just the ball that got away from the Badgers, it was the game. The play was emblematic of the weekend for the Wisconsin softball team, who was swept in its final home weekend by Michigan State, dropping Friday’s contest 4-2, before losing 6-0 on Senior Day, the final Big Ten home game for six UW players.

Although the score was only 3-0 after Peterson’s run, the inning snowballed into five runs for Michigan State, and the game was all but over.

“Very disappointing, absolutely,” Wisconsin head coach Karen Gallagher said of her team’s performance. “We didn’t come out with the attitude we needed, and that I hoped we would have. I just felt like we didn’t show up very focused.”

The lethal fourth inning began when catcher Caitlin Mahoney lined through the right side of the infield to lead off and promptly scored when the next batter, Peterson, singled to left.

UW left fielder Anastasia Miller misplayed the ball, allowing Mahoney to score and Peterson to reach second. The back-to-back singles spelled the end for Wisconsin starter Eden Brock, who gutted out three tough innings. Still, Wisconsin only trailed by two runs when Katie Layne replaced Brock.

After a ground out moved Peterson to third, second baseman Janette Hurtado hit a soft tapper to Layne, who threw home. The play at the plate was close, though Daniels appeared to have the ball in time. However, a charging Peterson collided with Daniels to knock the ball loose, and the umpire called Peterson safe, much to the dismay of the Wisconsin bench.

Gallagher came out and vehemently disputed the call, arguing Peterson had purposefully run over Daniels, knocking the ball out of the catcher’s glove.

“I thought that [Peterson] flagrantly took out our catcher as she was trying to catch the ball and make the play,” Gallagher said. “I just felt like she came in with her elbows out.”

However, Gallagher was even more disappointed with her team’s response to the play than she was with the call.

“When someone takes out your catcher, you would hope it would fire up your team, but you know that is something they need to decide,” Gallagher said. “Especially when you are looking for something to get you going, I mean, somebody tried to hurt our player. That fires me up, but our players are the ones playing the game.”

Following the collision, Amy Szawara smashed a double to right, scoring Hurtado from second. Vicky Morache then grounded to third baseman Athena Vasquez, who threw the ball away, allowing Szawara to score and Morache to advance all the way to third base on the error. Traci Nicosia then laced a single to centerfield, which was also misplayed, scoring Morache and giving Michigan State a 6-0 lead.

The weekend was disappointing for a variety of reasons for the Badgers, as they struggled despite it being family weekend and the last home Big Ten series for the core group of seniors.

Those seniors were treated to a ceremony prior to the game, being announced to the crowd by the public address announcer and receiving roses from Gallagher. Despite the special treatment, Wisconsin came out flat, while Michigan State came out firing.

The loss dropped Wisconsin to 13-19 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin currently sits precariously in eighth place in the conference, one game in front of Indiana. Only the top eight conference finishers participate in the Big Ten tournament.

“Michigan State is competitive, but they are a team that we could’ve beaten, that we should’ve beaten,” Gallagher said. “It didn’t flow for us today; we had no energy.”