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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Friday, March 29, 2024
Meghan McIntosh

Junior pitcher Meghan McIntosh threw a complete-game shutout against Bradley Tuesday. It was a great response to her previous start, where she was pulled in the first inning.

Softball: Badgers extend home win streak in shutout

The Bradley softball team (9-14 Missouri Valley, 19-28 overall) stood no chance against junior pitcher Meghan McIntosh Tuesday night at Goodman Diamond in Madison. McIntosh’s performance propelled the Badgers (12-6 Big Ten, 31-15 overall) to a 2-0 win.

McIntosh gave up four hits and two walks in her complete game effort and struck out four. The shutout improved her record to 6-5 and lowered her ERA to 2.78 on the year.

“From the mound, we’ve been throwing a lot of innings and we need the whole staff to contribute,” head coach Yvette Healy said. “So that was huge and for her to throw a four-hitter was great. We really needed that A-plus effort, and that’s what she gave us.”

The Braves, who boast only one batter hitting over .300, simply could not catch up to McIntosh’s above-average fastball. Most of her outs came on ground balls and popups to the opposite field. That, along with her recent hard work in practice, allowed her to excel in the circle today, according to junior second baseman Whitney Massey.

“[McIntosh has] been working her butt off,” Massey said. “She’s always asking people to catch for her and just doing extra and it was really nice to see her come out and be really successful today.”

Massey also said the team had a little bit of the revenge factor working in its favor after losing a critical series last weekend against Purdue.

“We were definitely a little upset about those losses and we definitely wanted to take it into this game tonight,” Massey said. “We could’ve definitely hit more but we want to come out fighting tomorrow against Green Bay, too.”

Wisconsin scored in the second inning when freshman left fielder Marissa Mersch bounced one high off home plate with sophomore first basemen Michelle Mueller on second base. Mersch beat out the chopper at first base, but the Bradley first basemen made an error that allowed Mueller to score.

In the third inning, sophomore shortstop Stephanie Peace doubled to knock in Massey, who also doubled earlier in the inning.

The only time Bradley put up a serious threat was in the third inning, when the Badgers’ defense committed back-to-back infield errors that easily could have been hits. McIntosh then forced a groundout and walked one batter to load the bases. The next batter ripped a grounder up the middle that ricocheted off of McIntosh right to Massey. Massey stepped on second base for the force out to end the threat.

Pacing Wisconsin offensively was Massey, who went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a run. She now has 19 doubles on the year and came into the game second in the nation in doubles per game, with 0.38. She was the lone Badger with multiple hits in the contest.

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