Mother Nature, again, threw the Badgers a curveball, as Saturday’s game was suspended due to rain and forced a Sunday Senior Day doubleheader. Wisconsin split the doubleheader with Northwestern, winning game one 4-1 and falling 4-3 in game two at Goodman Diamond.
“Again, we have the chance to win the game. It’s exciting to get a win from Northwestern,” head coach Yvette Healy said. “Every series so far, we’ve gotten a win. I think that was a big goal going into the season, let’s go out and try to get one win against every single Big Ten team we face, and with Northwestern, we knew it was going to be a tall order…really happy with the hitting, happy with the pitching, to be in three tight ballgames against a team that good, I’m proud of this group.”
Wisconsin (10-9-1 Big Ten, 27-21-1 overall) resumed the game leading 2-0 thanks to two runs scored Saturday by sophomore third baseman Kelsey Jenkins and senior shortstop Ashley Van Zeeland.
Jenkins led off the third inning with a long home run to left field, extending UW’s lead to 3-0.
Senior pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart (five innings, four hits, one run (unearned), one walk and six strikeouts) entered in relief to resume the game and kept Northwestern (12-8, 22-24) quiet the rest of the game.
The Badgers added another run in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Kelly Welsh hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who bobbled the ball but was able to roll it to third for the fielder’s choice. A run scored, pushing Wisconsin’s lead to 4-1.
Stewart was able to finish off the Wildcats thanks to a great diving catch by senior left fielder Katie Christner in the seventh inning.
Wisconsin was limited to just four hits, led by Jenkins (2-for-3), but made the most of its opportunities.
In game two, Northwestern jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on Wisconsin pitcher Kirsten Stevens.
UW responded in the bottom of the third inning. Right fielder Chloe Miller was hit by a pitch and Christner followed with a single. First baseman Sara Novak then followed with a sharp single to second that took a nasty hop and rolled into right field, scoring two runs to tie the game. Jenkins added a RBI single and gave Wisconsin the 3-2 lead.
Stewart (five innings, six hits, two runs, one walks and two strikeouts) returned to the circle to pitch in the third inning.
Northwestern tied the game at three in the fourth inning as pitcher Amy Letourneau helped her own cause and crushed a home run to left field.
A key two-out RBI single in the fifth inning gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 4-3.
Wisconsin did not go down without a fight. The Badgers got two runners on base in the seventh inning, but Letourneau was too much as she secured the doubleheader split for Northwestern.
For seniors Van Zeeland, Stewart, Christner and Macy Oswald, this was their last home game at Goodman Diamond.
"I love that group. I don't think that those four were very high-profile kids coming out of high school, and they have just been such great character kids for us, they were the perfect fit,” Healy said. “They believed in what we said, that the program was going to start making strides, and they came and were a part of it and they really changed the culture here to make it so that there was a lot of good energy and great families.”
"I'm really happy with what they've brought just to make the program into a really great atmosphere. I think that anybody in the country would want to play here now thanks to what those four helped to create."
Jenkins appreciates the senior leadership.
“Those four seniors, they come out and play hard for us every game," Jenkins said. "Every one of us underclassmen looks to them for leadership and they just are the definition of leadership and understand how to play Badger softball from being here for four years. It's an honor to be able to play next to them."
Wisconsin heads to Nebraska next weekend for three games with the Cornhuskers.
"I think we've got the ability to play with anybody in the conference, so now you just want to face good competition and be playing some good softball late, and we saw that this weekend. We played some really good softball and we were competitive the whole time, so that's definitely a sign of progress," Healy said.
Game one of the series begins Friday at 5:30 p.m.
