The UW softball team (3-7 Big Ten, 15-19 overall) had the upper hand of the twin bill they played against the Bison of North Dakota State (18-23) Monday.
The Badgers, led by a pair of Anastasia Miller home runs, made it look like NDSU pitcher Alison Bakke was in to pitch batting practice to the team.
In the third inning, with the Badgers leading 2-0 due to a two-run shot from Miller in the second, Kris Zacher crushed a ball into the left-center gap and legged out a triple. After a Wisconsin ground out, freshman first baseman Katie Hnatyk sent a ball over the fence in deep center field. Follwing her lead, senior catcher Boo Gillette sent a deep fly ball down tiptoeing the left field foul line for the second consecutive Badger home run.
After freshman third baseman Joey Daniels reached first on a hard-hit single up the middle, it was \Miller Time"" once again. Miller hit her second home run of the game, driving in another two RBI to push her game total to four.
""Coming into that first game we were just trying to focus on relaxing and trying to make contact,"" Miller said. ""It's nice to get up to bat and focus on hitting the ball instead of getting a [specific] job done.""
In the second game, the Badgers played small ball. The Badgers manufactured five runs when Zacher led off the fourth with a single and then stole second to give the Badgers a spark. Two singles and a sac bunt later, the Badgers had a lead they would not relinquish.
""I just thought that if we could get something going ... hitting is contagious. That's how we are as a team. We're contagious. Whether it's hitting or in the field ... it's good and bad too,"" head coach Karen Gallagher said.
Somewhat lost in the Badgers' offensive onslaught was a spectacular first-game outing from senior pitcher Katie Layne. Layne threw all seven innings and allowed only three hits in the game. Layne pitched around two bases-loaded situations and stranded all NDSU runners to preserve her shut out.
""I got myself into most of them [jams], so it was my job to get myself out of them,"" Layne said. ""The fact that I did do that gives me a lot of confidence to know that when I'm in that situation, I can get through it.""
Sophomore Eden Brock also pitched a great second game. She tied her career high in strikeouts-nine-and was able to stay strong through four UW errors in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn her tenth win of the season.
""I think in the last inning we might have relaxed a little bit,"" Brock said. ""That's when you just have to trust in your teammates and know that they can get the job done. If you start doubting, that's when everything starts to fall apart.""
The Badgers play again tomorrow in another double-header against Loyola Chicago. The first game starts at 4 p.m. with the second to follow.
