The Wisconsin Badgers softball team scored 29 runs against the Illinois Fighting Illini in a three-game away series Friday and Saturday, coming back in the later game on Saturday.
Crushing victory
The Badgers scored 15 runs against the Illini on Friday, ending the game at five innings due to the run-rule.
The Badgers started slow in the first two innings. Brooke Kuffel singled up the middle for Molly Schlosser to run home to put the Badgers up 1-0. Illinois put up two runs before infielder Danielle Lucy tied it for Wisconsin.
Illinois scored twice more before Wisconsin started their aggressive play toward the lead. Alivia Bark hit a double in the fifth, totaling three hits this game alongside Kuffel. The Badgers hit five home runs, with Kuffel clearing the bases on the fifth with a grand slam.
This game marked Wisconsin’s highest run total of the season and Kendra Lewis’s first-ever collegiate home run.
Losing their lead
Wisconsin fell in the second game of the series with a 9-6 loss to the Fighting Illini on Saturday. Wisconsin scored first from Lewis’ single then went on to give up nine unanswered runs throughout the third and fourth innings.
Wisconsin got five up on the board between the fifth and seventh innings but ultimately fell short. Lewis showed up with two hits for the Badgers, leading the team early afternoon.
At the bottom of the fourth, Lewis stepped up to pitch and struck out two batters. The Badgers hit three home runs starting with Emily Bojan in the fifth, Emmy Wells in the sixth and Lewis to close out the Badgers’ attempt at taking the lead in the series.
Closing it out
Wisconsin took home the three-game series by finishing out on Saturday with an 8-6 victory. They led in the first and second innings with three runs, starting the game with a homer from Schlosser that sent Bark home.
Illinois scored two more before Kuffel’s double in the second that sent Schlosser home. It was more so a back-and-forth between teams to finish out the last game of the series, handing the win to the Badgers after an Illinois run in the seventh.
Pitcher Gabi Salo leads Wisconsin pitchers with 10 wins and six complete games this year. Salo had three strikeouts and zero walks Saturday evening.
Wisconsin heads to Oklahoma City to face Purdue for a two-game series on Thursday and Friday.
