On paper, the weekend looked bleak for the Wisconsin softball team which had to host the number one team in the country before hosting the No. 1 team in the Big Ten conference. However, on the field the team looked composed, confident and played better than the box score may indicate.
The Badgers (3-5 Big Ten, 12-17 overall) are now on a six-game skid, but the team's spirit is not down, considering they had to play No. 1 Michigan (7-1, 40-3) and No. 18 Northwestern (8-0, 26-9).
In the first game of the weekend at the Goodman Diamond, Wisconsin gave the Wolverines all they could handle, but could not finish them off as a pair of errors in the top of the eighth led to an unearned run that turned out to be the winning margin for Michigan. In the game, senior catcher Boo Gillette blasted her seventh home run of the season, which leads the Badgers, and put her one ahead of teammate senior shortstop Kris Zacher for the career lead.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Badgers on Saturday against Michigan as they managed only one hit while allowing eight runs as senior pitcher Katie Layne picked up the first of two losses during the grueling weekend.
'Our defense has shut the door,\ UW head coach Karen Gallagher said. ""I think if you score seven runs you should feel like you have the game in hand. If we are getting pitching and hitting, we're not getting defense, or vice versa.""
There was no time to mourn the losses with Northwestern coming into town for two games on Sunday. Good contact hitting and smart base running gave the Badgers an early 6-2 lead in game one, but they let it slip away over the last three innings when a pair of misplayed ground balls gave Northwestern an 8-6 lead in the seventh. Senior leftfielder Anastasia Miller tried to spark a comeback in the bottom half of the inning with a towering home run over the left field fence-her fourth hit of the game-but the comeback quickly ended with two ground outs.
""I have a lot of faith in the team, and everyone knows we can hit the ball,"" Gallagher said. ""We just need to play defense better. It'll come around. We've got a lot of ball left, and its only a matter of time before it all comes together.""
In game two, the Badgers again lost by one run, 3-2. Freshman shortstop Stephanie Churchwell put Northwestern out in front in the bottom of the second with a two-run bloop single that floated over the first baseman's head. The Badgers quickly retaliated in the top of the third when freshman first baseman Katie Hnatyk sent the ball into orbit for a two run home run that tied the game. Two innings later, the bases were loaded with no outs for the Wildcats, but they only managed one run after a great heads-up double play got the Badgers out of the inning without further damage. The run proved to be enough though, as Wisconsin could not manage to score in the final two innings.
Despite the losses, the Badger players are not discouraged, and confidence is high among the team members.
""We just saw the best of the best and we're right there,"" Zacher said. ""Things are going to start falling for us soon. Our underclassman are so amazing. They are so talented, and don't play like freshmen.""
With 20 games decided by two runs or fewer, there is no argument that Wisconsin can play with any team in the country. The fact that they are only winning half of those games only shows that it is simply a matter of time before their hits start dropping, the balls start bouncing Wisconsin's way and the Badgers start coming out on top.
""It was a tough weekend, but you just have to keep your head up and things will come around,"" Gallagher said.
The Badgers travel to Valparaiso for their next game on Wednesday, and then welcome Michigan State to Madison this Friday and Saturday.
