The Wisconsin Badgers softball team swept the Iowa Hawkeyes in its home opener at the Goodman Diamond on Friday and Saturday.
Opening at home
Wisconsin softball started play at Goodman Diamond with an 8-7 victory over Iowa in its first game of the doubleheader.
The game turned in Iowa’s favor in the fourth inning, where Wisconsin lost its 4-0 lead to Iowa’s seven consecutive runs with no movement from the Badgers until the seventh inning. Starting pitcher Gabi Salo was taken out in favor of Molly Jacobson after Iowa’s three-run home run put them in the lead.
Alivia Bark’s triple rebooted the scoring for the Badgers, pushing them toward their comeback. Molly Schlosser’s homer and Kendra Lewis’ triple completed their walk-off win.
Matching last season’s wins
With Wisconsin’s 4-2 victory Friday afternoon, the Badgers matched their win record from last season at 21 wins. A homer by Danielle Lucey put the Badgers up 2-0 in the second inning.
Wisconsin momentarily lost that lead as Iowa tied the game in the third, but Schlosser’s single quickly got it back. Hilary Blomberg’s double in the fourth inning solidified that two-run lead for the Badgers.
The two runs Wisconsin allowed were the lowest against any conference opponent this season.
Completing the sweep
A 7-5 victory on Saturday put the Badgers at 3-0 against the Hawkeyes this season, completing the series sweep. Wisconsin had another small come back being down 2-0 going into the third.
Salo closed out the last five innings, relieving Jacobson at the top of the third, and only gave up three earned runs. Schlosser’s double in the third sent Kate Linkletter and Emily Bojan home to tie the game.
The Badgers had four runs in the fourth that upped the lead to 7-2 but lost the momentum as Iowa scored three more in the fifth and sixth.
Wisconsin improves to 22-12 for a .647 win percentage after its three wins over the weekend. They play the University of Washington in Seattle this weekend.
