The Wisconsin softball team (6-12 Big Ten, 27-20 overall) fell short of making it to the Big Ten tournament Saturday afternoon when it split a doubleheader at Minnesota (4-9 Big Ten, 24-22 overall).
The Badgers needed to sweep the Golden Gophers in order to move on to post-season play. Originally, the series was scheduled to be one game Saturday and one game Sunday, but the threat of rainstorms Sunday caused Saturday's doubleheader. In game one, Wisconsin triumphed 6-4 but lost a three-run lead in game two to lose 5-4. Minnesota also did not qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.
Senior center fielder Samantha Polito tied two UW records Saturday as she registered a program-high 203 hits in her 203rd career game. She tied Julie Borchard's school record in six fewer games. Polito also tied Jade Gosses' runs scored in a single season with 39. Polito started every game of her Wisconsin career and has two other school records with 138 career runs scored and a 16-game hitting streak.
Polito led the Badgers offensively as she went 4-for-7 at the plate this weekend and scored four runs. Junior outfielder Katie Hnatyk hit a game-tying, three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning of game one, which broke Wisconsin's single-season RBI record and tied its single-season home run record. Hnatyk drove in a total of four runs in the doubleheader and finishes with 38 RBI this season, two more than alumni Anastasia Miller's 2005 total of 36. Hnatyk's 11th home run this season and 30th of her career also tied Miller's UW record.
Hnatyk broke another single season record, finishing with a slugging percentage of .660, just two points higher than Kris Zacher's 2005 percentage of .658.
After Hnatyk's three-run homer in game one, Wisconsin's junior catcher Joey Daniels, who went 3-for-6 on the day, delivered the go-ahead RBI single in top of the sixth inning. Sophomore teammate Ricci Robben added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 6-4. Minnesota could not overcome this two run deficit, but game two offered the Gopher's a different fate.
Minnesota's senior Megan Higginbotham was an offensive spark the whole day as her bunt single ignited a three-run sixth inning in game two, which tied the score at 4-4. Higginbotham led off the top of the seventh with an off the wall double over Polito's head in center field and came around to score what turned out to be the winning run later that inning. Higginbotham also hit a home run in game one, which gave UM a 4-3 lead before Wisconsin scored three unanswered runs. She went 4-for-8 in the doubleheader and had one RBI and four runs scored.
Wisconsin's pitcher Eden Brock picked up a win and a loss on Saturday as she finished 15-13 on the season. Brock took the loss of game two when she relieved freshman Letty Olivarez (9-7) in the sixth inning.
Minnesota's starting pitcher Katie Dalen (7-7) struggled in game one, forcing the Gophers to substitute Rene Konderik (6-8) to finish the series on the mound. After losing game one in relief, Konderik allowed only one unearned run and four hits in seven innings of game two.
The Badgers will graduate five seniors as Polito, Brock, Athena Vasquez, Liz Klemp and Stephanie Chinn finished their careers in Minneapolis. Wisconsin looks to have a strong team returning in 2008, but the three starting positions held by Polito, Brock and Vasquez will be hard to fill.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
