Wisconsin dropped three out of four games at the USF-Louisville Slugger Tournament last weekend in Tampa, Fla.
The lone win for the Badgers came on Saturday night as Wisconsin defeated host school South Florida, 2-1. Before the contest on Saturday night, the Badgers had already lost games to South Carolina on Friday afternoon and Wright State on Friday night. Wisconsin was also defeated by Hofstra on Sunday.
The opening game of the tournament against South Carolina went into extra innings before the Badgers lost 1-0. Wisconsin sophomore pitcher Letty Olivarez flourished for the first seven innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven.
But Olivarez was outdone by Gamecocks' pitcher Krystle Robinson. The freshman allowed just five baserunners through eight innings and struck out seven. In the bottom of the eighth, a walk-off single by junior left fielder Ashton Payne gave South Carolina a hard-fought victory.
Later on Friday, Wisconsin took the field again only to lose to Wright State 5-0. Junior pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven had a rough outing for Wisconsin. Vanevenhoven could not get through the third inning and was yanked after surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks.
Wisconsin could not get anything going offensively against the Raiders and sophomore pitcher Allison Cox. Cox threw a shutout while allowing six hits and one walk.
On Saturday, Wisconsin earned a dramatic victory against South Florida. The Bulls were arguably the best team the Badgers faced all weekend, as they were the only squad to receive any votes in the ESPN.com/USA Today Softball Collegiate Poll.
The pivotal moment in the game came in the top of the sixth inning when South Florida loaded the bases with no one out and the game tied at one. But freshman pitcher Kristyn Hansen induced three consecutive force-outs to end the inning and allow Wisconsin to escape unscathed.
The momentum carried over for Wisconsin as they took the lead on an error by South Florida third baseman Allison Savarese. The miscue plated senior catcher Joey Daniels for the eventual game-winning run.
Hansen pitched two scoreless innings in a relief role to earn her second win of the season. Courtney Mosch came out of the bullpen and surrendered an unearned run to take the loss, her second of the season.
The final game of the tournament came on Sunday, and Wisconsin was shut out for the second time this weekend against Hofstra, losing 2-0. Vanevenhoven had another short start on the mound for Wisconsin. This time, the junior pitched 3.1 innings and allowed four baserunners and two runs for her fourth loss of the season and her second of the weekend.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
