Softball Swept By No. 23 Illinois
April 20, 2003 | Softball
Another Wisconsin softball rally was foiled by Illinois pitcher Amanda Fortune as the No. 23 Illini defeated UW, 4-2, Sunday in game two of doubleheader action at Eichelberger Field. The Badgers fall to 14-23 overall, 3-11 Big Ten.
Down 4-0, Emily Friedman started the Badgers' sixth-inning rally by placing a hit along the right field line in shallow right with one out in the sixth. Erin Barnharst followed with her team-high fifth home run of the season and third homer for the Badgers on the day. Barnharst's shot flew over the center field wall to pull UW within two at 4-2.
Boo Gillette lined a shot into right field and the ball bounced off the tip of the right fielder's glove and she took second base on the error. Consolmagno followed with a liner that Illini shortstop Lindsey Hamma blocked, but couldn 't dig out in time and Consolmagno was safe with a single.
Meghann Reiss walked to load the bases with one out for pinch hitter Anastasia Miller. Amanda Fortune, Illinois' No. 1 hurler, took the mound to face Miller. Miller flew out to center field and Natalie Philips struck out. Fortune retired the side in the seventh to end the game and pick up the save.
The game's scoring started with Illinois lighting the board first in the third inning. Erin Jones singled and advanced to second and third on a ground out and wild pitch, respectively. Jenna Hall landed a hit into shallow center field to score Jones and give the Illini a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, Jones singled and moved over on sacrifice bunt. Hall repeated her third-inning effort with a hit to score Jones. With the bases loaded and two outs, Janna Sartini lined a two-run single into left center field to push the score to 4-0.
The Badger defense prevented more UI runs in the fourth and sixth. With runners in scoring position and one out in the fourth, Wisconsin escaped the fourth unscathed. Katie Layne struck out Lauren Gronski and got leadoff hitter Rachelle Coriddi to ground out to end the inning.
In the sixth, Coriddi singled to start the inning and moved to third after stealing second and a Boo Gillette error. With Coriddi on third and one out, the Badgers got out of the inning when Lindsey Hamma drove a hard, quick liner to Zacher who flipped it to Kaitlin Reiss at third to catch Coriddi off the bag.
The Badgers travel to UW-Green Bay Tuesday, before kicking off a seven-game home stand next weekend. UW opens with Penn State at the Goodman Diamond, Saturday at 6 p.m. and April 26 at noon.
Live stats for all home games are available on UWBADGERS.COM. Justin Furr and Mike Johnson of WSUM will make the call for UWBADGERS.COM on April 25, while Jason Dickson and former Badger Amanda Berg call the action for WIBA on April 26.
