The UW Badgers Softball team (2-4 Big Ten, 19-11 overall) upped their home record to 3-0 Sunday with a double-header sweep of Big Ten rival Iowa. The Hawkeyes, coming into Sunday's games as co-leaders of the Big Ten and winners of its last 10, dropped both games, 5-0 and 4-1 respectively, as the Badgers recorded their first-ever season sweep of the Hawkeyes.
The Badgers were led in the first game with a solid outing by starting pitcher Letty Olivarez, who pitched a complete game three-hit shutout, improving her record to 6-5 on the season.
The offense broke through in game one with two runs in the fourth inning, and three more in the fifth. UW made the most of their offensive chances, leaving only five runners on base, compared to Iowa's nine left in game one.
Center fielder Sam Polito was the offensive star of the game, going 1-for-2 with two runs scored, two RBI, and a walk. Her triple in the fifth inning scored the third and fourth runs of the game. These runs essentially put the game out of reach for the Hawkeyes, as the Badgers are 15-0 when scoring four or more runs this season.
The second game was more of the same, with a strong pitching performance by Eden Brock, and the offense scoring four runs to get the victory. Brock was overpowering, striking out nine batters in seven innings of work, completing the game and improving to 10-6 on the season. The first run for the Badgers came in the bottom of the first on a throwing error, and they continued to score with a run in the third, fourth and sixth innings respectively.
Again the offense was led by Polito, who went 2-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and a stolen base, raising her batting average to .344. The two, three and four spots in the lineup (Polito, Athena Vasquez and Katie Hnatyk) accounted for the three earned runs the Badgers scored off opposing pitcher Amanda Zust, and they went 3-for-5 as a trio.
The Badgers were not as efficient at scoring runs as they were in the first game, leaving 11 runners on base, compared to six left by the Hawkeyes. But the Badgers were issued seven walks during the game, accumulated seven hits and got a runner on base with the first-inning Hawkeye error. This was plenty for the Badgers, and capped off this exciting sweep.
On the season, Hnatyk leads the Badgers with a .365 batting average, ten home runs and 30 RBIs. She has also collected 35 hits and stolen 8 bases.
Brock and Olivarez have each recorded ERAs under 2.30 in their combined 187.2 innings.Brock is also sriking out over fiver batters per contest.
Wisconsin currently sits at seventh place in the Big Ten, three games begind first place Ohio State.
These two games were the first of a 12 game homestand for the Badgers. The Badgers will have faced Big Ten opponents six more tmes before they leave Madison again. Next up is North Dakota State on Tuesday.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report
