On a crucial weekend for the UW softball team (5-10 Big Ten, 21-21 overall), it appeared in all three games the Badgers had the win in hand. But fortune did not smile on the Badgers nearing the end of games as they finished the weekend with only one win and two painful losses against the likes of Penn State (7-9, 34-13) and Ohio State (11-5, 35-18).
[The losses] hurt us tremendously, it killed us,\ UW head coach Chandelle Schulte said. ""We played good softball, but we just can't finish games.""
Friday's game began the weekend on a very encouraging note. Although Penn State had players on second and third with only one out to start the game, junior Eden Brock got out of the inning unscathed. Both teams would threaten but not score until the bottom of the third, when UW freshman Valyncia Raphael went yard with a three-run home run. That would prove to be all the help Brock needed as she dominated Nittany Lion batters all day long to get her second straight complete-game shutout.
Saturday's second game against Penn State looked much like the first, with pitchers Brock and sophomore Ashley Esparza dueling back and forth. Brock allowed a runner in every inning and used the ""bend but don't break"" philosophy to get out of trouble. Esparza kept Badger bats off guard all game until the fifth inning.
In the fifth inning, Athena Vasquez deposited a solo homer over the left field fence to lead off the inning. Brock appeared en route to her third straight complete-game shutout heading into the seventh with 18 straight innings without allowing a run. But with runners on first and third, two outs and two strikes, Brock made her one mistake to freshman Danielle Kinley and Wisconsin took a heartbreaking 3-1 loss.
The home runs just kept coming for UW in Sunday's rain-soaked game against Ohio State. After falling behind 1-0 early due to a Megan Schwab RBI single, Wisconsin responded with force in the second with five runs on freshman Alexis Garcia's two-run home run and Vasquez's three-run homer. Brock recovered from early jitters with two easy innings, but possible fatigue from her 12th straight start and fielding miscues would get to her in the fourth and fifth innings.
The Buckeyes' powerful offense took charge quickly, as two runs in the fourth and a five run fifth littered with problems sunk any hope for a Wisconsin upset win. Brock fell to 17-12 and the Bagders' hopes for a Big Ten Tournament appearance all but disappeared.\
