Gophers Defeat Badgers in 11 Inning Marathon
May 03, 2008 | Softball
In the team's longest game of the season, the University of Wisconsin softball team dropped a 4-0 decision to Minnesota Saturday afternoon at Goodman Diamond. Lasting 11 innings and 3 hours and 22 minutes, the game was scoreless through 10 innings before the Golden Gophers scored in the top of the 11th.
After a lead-off single in the top of the 11th, Malisa Barnes reached as her line drive struck Wisconsin pitcher Letty Olivarez (Newark, Calif.) in the right leg. Olivarez was forced to leave the game, resulting in freshman Kristyn Hansen (Franksville, Wis.) coming on in relief. Shannon Stemper laced a double to right centerfield to put the Gophers up 1-0. A fielder's choice, an RBI single and a groundout to second all resulted in RBIs giving the Gophers a 4-0 lead.
The Badgers had an early scoring chance in the second inning. With two outs, senior Lynn Anderson (Neenah, Wis.) drew a walk and sophomore Katie Soderberg (Delta, British Columbia) followed with a single to right field. A wild pitch moved the runners over and freshman Livi Abney (Lawrence, Kan.) walked to load the bases. Wisconsin couldn't convert though as freshman Jennifer Krueger (Portage, Wis.) struck out to end the inning.
The Golden Gophers threatened in the seventh and eighth innings.
Stemper led off the top of the seventh with a walk before being replaced by pinch runner Bethany Wolvington. A sacrifice bunt moved Wolvington to second and a fly out to center moved her to third with two outs. The Badgers squashed the scoring attempt though as Olivarez got Casey Wheeler to pop out to short.
In the eighth, the Gophers loaded the bases but couldn't scratch across a run. Pinch hitter Alison Murphy led off with a walk before being replaced by Brianna Sudenga. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. Sila Fernandez followed with a grounder that took a bad hop in front of Abney, allowing Sudenga to move to third. A walk to Barnes loaded the bases. Abney then made up for her previous error as she made a diving stop to her left and threw out Stemper from her knees to end the inning.
Wisconsin threatened in the bottom of the 10th. Anderson led of the inning with a walk. After Soderberg struck out, Anderson stole second and then moved to third on a groundout by Abney. Junior Nichole Whaley (Riverside, Calif.) pinch hit and drew a four-pitch walk, but Daniels struck out to end the inning.
In 11 innings, the Badgers were only able to muster two hits off Minnesota's Briana Hassett. Hassett kept the Badgers in check with 16 strikeouts, though she did walk seven batters. The 16 punch-outs were a season-high for Wisconsin.
Junior Leah Vanevenhoven (Kaukauana, Wis.) got the start for the Badgers and was effective in her five and two-thirds innings of work. She allowed only two hits and three walks while striking out six.
The Badgers return to action tomorrow afternoon for their regular season finale. Game time is set for 12 p.m. at Goodman Diamond.
To relive the game via the GameDay blog, click postid=970"> --> here.
