After celebrating two wins over the North Dakota, the Wisconsin softball team fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Thursday.
The No. 25 Fighting Irish slaughtered the Badgers in five innings, with a final score of 11-3.
Junior outfielder Jennifer Krueger and freshman infielder Molly Spence led Wisconsin with a combined five hits, but the rest of the team went 0-for-13 against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was first on the scoreboard with two runs, off a double from Pitzenberger to left center field and home run in left field by the Christine Lux.
The Fighting Irish sealed their lead in the second inning, scoring six more runs against Wisconsin and widening the score to 8-0. A single by Pitzenberger with bases loaded upped the score to 3-0, and a walk brought in the fourth run of the game. Senior Letty Olivarez came in after four runs as relief for freshman starter Meghan McIntosh, but gave up a grand slam off her first pitch.
The Badgers scored for the first time in the top of the fourth inning. Krueger led off with her second hit of the game and easily stole second base. Spence followed with a double, scoring Krueger and making the score 8-1.
The bottom of the fourth brought two more runs for Notre Dame.
The Badgers fought back in the fifth inning, scoring two more runs. Freshman utility Abby Gregory, who started the game for the first time in her career, led off with a walk. Senior infielder Katie Soderberg then hit a groundout to advance Gregory to second.
Krueger and Spence hit back-to-back singles, scoring Gregory. Freshman infielder Shannel Blackshear loaded the bases with a walk, and freshman utility Whitney Massey sacrificed a fly to centerfield, allowing Krueger to cross the plate.
The Fighting Irish added one run in the bottom of the fifth to run rule Wisconsin.
Krueger and Spence both played record-setting games against Notre Dame. Krueger tied her career high in hits, going 3-for-3 in Thursday's game. She also added two runs to her career high and advanced her title as all-time UW single-season stolen base leader.
Spence went 2-of-3 with two RBIs. She set the UW freshman record Thursday for RBI in one year with 33.
The Fighting Irish, who stand at No. 1 in the Big East conference and have a 40-9 overall record, now hold a six-game winning streak. Wisconsin, at the bottom of the Big Ten standings and holding a record of 16-28, couldn't break through the streak.
The Badgers return home this weekend to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in a two-game series. Saturday's game is set for a 6:05 p.m., while Sunday begins at 1:05 p.m.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
