Wisconsin was defeated by Northwestern 5-3 Friday in its first of three matchups with the Wildcats this weekend at Goodman Diamond.
The Wildcats jumped out to a first-inning lead after a single from senior pitcher Amy Letourneau. This one-run lead was extended to three one inning later, when back-to-back errors loaded the bases for the Wildcats. With three runners on, freshman infielder Morgan Nelson singled to right field, bringing home junior outfielder Krista Williams and junior infielder Alcy Bush.
The Wildcats continued their dominance thereafter, scoring one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings.
It was only after the fifth inning that the Badgers finally got going offensively.
After a solo home run from sophomore Kelsey Jenkins in the sixth inning, the third baseman doubled in the seventh inning to cut the Wildcats’ lead to just three. This was followed by an Ashley Van Zeeland single, which brought home freshman center fielder Kelly Welsh.
With the score at 5-3, the Badgers had a glimmer of hope.
That hope was short lived.
Wildcat pitcher Letourneau came up in the clutch, promptly striking out the Badgers’ junior Chloe Miller to end the game.
The Badgers were defeated despite their valiant comeback efforts and, with three defensive errors committed, they largely have themselves to blame for falling behind by five runs.
The loss was the Badgers’ 20th of the season, while pitcher Stevens also took her 10th loss of the campaign.
Wisconsin will look to bounce back from the loss Saturday, as it faces Northwestern again at 11 a.m.
