The Wisconsin softball team (0-2 Big Ten, 10-20 overall) split a pair of games with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux (3-20) in its home opener Wednesday.
Game one started off as a pitching duel between Badger junior Letty Olivarez and North Dakota sophomore hurler Hannah-Rose Peters, as no runners crossed home plate through five innings. The Badgers were able to put runners on the basepaths with hits from sophomore Ashley Hanewich and senior Theresa Boruta. But Wisconsin stranded a runner in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Sioux threatened to score in the top of the fourth inning when freshman Kim Bushaw recorded North Dakota's first hit of the game. But Olivarez stopped the threat, mowing through the heart of the Sioux lineup, striking out North Dakota seniors Nicole Puerling and Kelsey Fletcher and forcing Peters into a groundout.
The sixth inning proved disastrous for the Badgers, as the Sioux capitalized on Wisconsin mistakes. Errors by sophomore Livi Abney and senior Leah Vanevenhoven, as well as a botched play at second base, allowed North Dakota to move runners around and take a commanding lead. Wisconsin staged a minor rally in the seventh, plating two runs, but the Sioux held on to win 4-2.
Vanevenhoven got the ball in the second half of the doubleheader, facing off with North Dakota freshman Erica Younan in the circle. Wisconsin struck first in game two when Olivarez recorded an RBI single, scoring Boruta.
Wisconsin loaded the bases in the third inning, but a questionable call by head coach Chandelle Schulte led Vanevenhoven to be thrown out on a bunt with two outs, stranding all three runners. Schulte later explained that the bunt was intended to play to Vanevenhoven's strengths and capitalize off the Sioux's corner infielders playing deep.
The Sioux took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the inning, a scary moment occurred when Badger sophomore Jennifer Krueger was hit in the head with a pitch on a bunt attempt and had to leave the game. Olivarez managed to tie the game with an RBI double in the fifth.
In a huddle before the bottom of the sixth, Schulte challenged her players to take control of the game, albeit a player down. The team responded, scoring three runs with hits from Abney and seniors Valyncia Raphael and Nichole Whaley. Wisconsin survived a Sioux rally in the seventh, allowing only one run, and won 5-3.
""I thought that was one of the worst two softball games I've ever been a part of and that we really didn't start playing softball until Jen went down,"" Schulte said.
Abney an important part of the Badgers' rally in game two, after struggling in the opening contest.
""I felt like I let my team down in the first game, so I wanted to come out the second game and at least make a contribution in any way that I could,"" she said.
The Badgers will head to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend for a pair of games with the Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana currently holds the worst overall record in the Big Ten. Still, Schulte remarked on the mentality the team needs to take into the weekend.
""If we don't have that attack mode, if we don't have that ability to turn that on, we'll be in trouble,"" she said.
