[media-credit name=’BEN CLASSON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After dropping the first half of their doubleheader Sunday afternoon against Purdue (24-26-1, 4-5), the Wisconsin softball team (21-13, 3-5) was able to bounce back in Game 2 and come out even for the day against the Boilermakers.

UW's offensive attack was shut out until the last frame of Game 1, when Badger bats rallied for three runs off of Purdue ace Brooke Baker. But Baker was able to hold her ground and came away with the complete-game 4-3 win. The inning wasn't all for naught, however, as UW took the momentum into its second matchup with the Boilers and pounded out five runs in the first three innings. The Badgers held on to win the second game 6-5.

Initially it looked like Wisconsin was going to pick up right where they left off in Game 2, as Joey Daniels led off the game with a walk. But Purdue hurler Ashley DiDomenico got out of the inning with a little help from right-fielder Jenna Alexander, whose acrobatic catch robbed Katie Hnatyk of an RBI double.

Purdue got on the board in a hurry in their half of the first, notching two runs against Wisconsin hurler Eden Brock, but designated hitter Ricci Robben kept the Badger hits coming with a double to lead off the second. After an Alexis Garcia strikeout, second baseman Theresa Boruta slapped a single up the middle to plate Robben.

Wisconsin would keep the offense rolling in the third, beginning with consecutive singles from Daniels and Polito. This prompted Purdue head coach Kim Maher to yank DiDomenico in favor of Game 1 starter Brooke Baker. Hnatyk's sacrifice bunt off Baker moved runners to second and third, and a squeeze play from Vasquez coupled with a throwing error brought in the second and third runs of the day gave UW the 3-2 lead. Wisconsin would add two more runs in the frame, capitalizing on three errors committed by the shaky Purdue defense.

UW seemed to have Baker's number in the inning, but it wasn't just good fortune that turned the tide in Bucky's favor.

"We picked their changeup," head coach Chandelle Schulte said. "So we knew when the changeup was coming with a runner at third. That's why the squeeze play worked when it did."

With a two-run cushion, Brock was able to cruise through the next four innings, allowing just one run in the fourth when Purdue catcher Erika Peterson reached on a walk and came around to score on an Ashley Barr double.

In the top of the seventh, Wisconsin added its sixth and final run, which would prove to be crucial insurance come the bottom half of the inning. Polito slapped an opposite-field leadoff single and was moved over by two sacrifice bunts from Hnatyk and Vasquez. Robben then singled-in Polito for her fourth hit of the day.

Brock returned to the circle to try to seal a Wisconsin victory, but she was on a short leash. After Barr and Katie Mitchell led off with consecutive singles, Brock was pulled in favor of hard-throwing lefty Leah Vanevenhoven, who pitched two-and-one-third innings in relief of Letty Olivarez in Game 1. The lefty-lefty matchup would typically favor Vanevenhoven — who has been a late-inning specialist for UW all season — but Hall was able to collect her fourth hit of the game against Vanevenhoven on a single to left.

After facing just one hitter, Vanevenhoven gave way to Olivarez, who entered with two on and nobody out. In what could have been a nightmare situation to be thrown into as a freshman pitcher, Olivarez got shortstop Candace Curtis to line out to Boruta, who then doubled-off Hall at first to give the Badgers two quick outs. After allowing an RBI single to Kelsey Haupert to make things interesting, Olivarez got Jenna Alexander to pop out, earning herself a save and Wisconsin the 6-5 victory.

"I just wanted to pick up both Leah and Eden and just go out there and be relaxed," Olivarez said of her inning in relief. "I knew it was okay if one scored because we still had another run up, but I just didn't want them to come back."

Earlier in the day, the Boilers got another strong pitching performance from Baker in Game 1. The senior from Schererville, Ind., held UW to three runs on seven hits to pick up the win in her 29th complete game of the season.

Katie Mitchell's two-run shot in the fifth inning put Purdue up 3-0, and propelled them to a Game-1 win. Alicia Spack's RBI single in the seventh inning turned out to be the deciding run, and Baker held off a furious Wisconsin rally in their final at-bat to come out with the win.

In a game that was more one-sided than the box score indicated, the lack of execution left a sour taste in coach Schulte's mouth.

"It was too little, too late in the first game," Schulte said. "We just didn't start hitting, but we really gave up an extra run. We should not have given up the fourth run. We had an error, a hit, and a changeup that sat high, and that was their three runs. Every mistake we made they capitalized on."