The Wisconsin softball team kicked off their season with a 2-3 record at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah, playing in the complex where the baseball scene in High School Musical 2 was filmed.
On Feb. 8, the Badgers opened 0-2 after losing to Utah and BYU, 3-1 in both games.
Against Utah, UW scored first with an RBI by junior outfielder Valyncia Raphael, which brought senior catcher Joey Daniels over home plate. Daniels almost scored another run in the fifth inning after stealing second and third base, but the Utes got three runs in the sixth inning to put them on top.
In game two, the Cougars took the early lead in the second inning, where they scored all three runs. In the third inning, sophomore utility player Katie Soderberg took advantage of two wild pitches to score after hitting a double, but the score remained 3-1 for the rest of the game.
On Feb. 9, Wisconsin got out of its slump by defeating Northern Colorado 9-3, with sophomore Letty Olivarez going 3-for-3 at bat with four RBIs as well as striking out eight batters during the last four innings as pitcher. Junior outfielder/pitcher Ricci Robben also went 3-3 with two RBIs. The game was tied after the second inning, but UW scored at least two points each inning through the fifth to widen their lead over the Bears.
The match against Loyola-Marymount later that day went into extra innings after Soderberg and junior infielder Alexis Garcia scored in the seventh inning to tie the game 4-4. UW got another run in the top of the eighth, but the Lions answered with a home run to finish with a 7-5 win. Freshman infielder Livi Abney hit her first collegiate home run in the fifth inning.
In the weekend's final game, against Utah Valley on Feb. 10, home runs by senior infielder Lynn Anderson and Garcia in the fifth and sixth innings put UW in the lead to cap off the tournament with a 5-3 win. Abney and Garcia went 2-for-3 and Anderson went 2-2 at bat.
Pitchers Olivarez and junior Leah Vanevenhoven each accumulated 20 strikeouts over the weekend and earned a team 4.04 earned run average. The offense went .281 batting, with Oliverez and junior infielder Theresa Boruta hitting 50 percent.
This weekend, the Badgers will face six teams in Las Vegas. On Feb. 15, UW will play Bradley and Team Canada, then Northwestern State and California-Davis Feb. 16, and finally Cal Poly and No. 10 UCLA Feb. 17.
UC-Davis is 3-2 and UCLA is 4-1 after tournament play last weekend. Four Bruins have hitting averages of .500 or above, and the team earned run average stands at 2.26 points. Although UC-Davis boasts a less-impressive offense, they have allowed only 11 earned runs in five games.
