The UW softball team, (6-1 in fall play), hosted the UW-GB Phoenix and the UW-Parkside Rangers Saturday in the Goodman Diamond Fall tournament. The Badgers opened the day before a crowd of about 250 fans against the UW-GB Phoenix. Play started slowly, and the game was scoreless through the third inning before the Badgers took the lead 2-0. After freshman third baseman Kaitlin Reiss reached first on an error by the shortstop, she was driven home when senior centerfielder Erin Barnharst slammed a ball to deep left center for a triple.
Barnharst scored on a sacrifice grounder by freshman second baseman Emily Friedman, and the Badgers went ahead, never looking back. Barnharst had a great day for the Badgers going 4-6 at the plate, with six RBI's and a pair of triples.
\I was very impressed with Erin Barnharst, she had a great day [Saturday],"" Head Coach Karen Gallagher said. ""She really stepped up and has been working hard this fall. She hit well all day, drove in, I think, half of our runs if not more the second game and really took command in center field.""
Although they didn't seem as aggressive at the plate as Gallagher would have liked them to be, the Badgers took care of business on defense causing the Phoenix to stay scoreless though seven. The Badgers finished the game,and won 4-0.
Starting freshman pitcher Sara Gonzales in the second game, the Badgers put together a well-rounded defensive and offensive effort keeping the Rangers scoreless through seven. Gonzales struck out 10, walked two batters and had a solid day on the mound.
Sophomore catcher Boo Gillette, who was the designated hitter in the second game, went 3-3 at the plate, scoring the first run of the game with a solo home run shot over the left field fence. The Badgers put up five more runs in the following innings and beat UW-Parkside by a score of 6-0.
With two new assistant coaches, Tammy Lohmann and Brandee McArthur, to help guide them, the Badgers are looking forward to a better spring season. This says a lot as the team made it to the second round of NCAA tournament play last year, which made them one of the top 24 teams in the nation. Coaches and players alike are looking forward to the upcoming season to see what this young team can do.
""We are way far ahead of where we were at this time last year,"" Gillette said. ""We have a lot of young players coming in, our starters'shortstop, catcher, a bunch of us have a year of experience. I think as a whole we are a lot stronger team and the chemistry is a lot better too.""
The softball team will conclude their Fall season this Friday when they take on Winona State at the Goodman Softball Diamond at 3 p.m.
