Wisconsin softball (24-15) faced St. Thomas in a doubleheader at Goodman Diamond on Tuesday, racking up runs against the Tommies, mercy ruling them and coming back from a five-run deficit in game two.
Ruthless mercy rule in game one
The Badgers scored 15 runs to the Tommies’ two in the first game of the doubleheader at the end of the third inning. Sophomore catcher Hilary Blomberg started out the scoring for the Badgers, slamming a double in the second inning. Blomberg also collected an RBI, along with freshman pitcher Kendra Lewis, in the second inning.
Alivia Bark had herself a day, hitting two triples in one game and becoming the third Badger ever to do so. Emmy Wells hit her fifth home run of the season, and Ellie Hubbard gave the Badgers their sixth extra base of the game after she hit a double in the second.
Molly Jacobson relieved starting pitcher Lewis in the second inning. Jacobson allowed no runs on three hits and struck out three batters in the 3.2 innings she played.
The Badgers shut the game down in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule, where if a team leads by eight or more runs after five or more complete innings, the game ends and the “run rule” is invoked. Wisconsin won 15-3.
Badgers had to rally
The Tommies came out for game two dressed and ready, scoring five runs in the second and third to put the Badgers down 2-5 going into the fourth inning. Gabi Salo started the second game at the mound for the Badgers but was pulled after three Tommies’ runs in the second.
Molly Schlosser’s homer in the third gave the Badgers those two runs to cut the 0-5 deficit to 2-5, but Hubbard came in as the hero.
At the bottom of the sixth, Hubbard cleared the bases with a go-ahead grand slam and put the Badgers in the lead for the first time in the game. Hubbard’s grand slam secured the one-run win for the Badgers to complete the sweep. Wisconsin is now 5-0 at home.
Up next, Wisconsin plays Indiana in a three-game series at home starting Friday.
