Gophers Bounce Badgers
May 04, 2008 | Softball
In its final game of the season, the Wisconsin softball team fell to border rival Minnesota 14-4 in five innings at Goodman Diamond Sunday afternoon.
Junior Alexis Garcia (North Hollywood, Calif.) put the Badgers on the board in the bottom of the first on her three-run homer to take the early lead.
Minnesota answered back immediately as Colleen Powers hit an RBI single to right field. Colleen Conway hit an RBI single two batters later and Sila Fernandez's single to left field gave the Gophers the 4-3 lead. Malisa Barns completed the five run inning for Minnesota with her single to left field which scored Conway.
The Gophers capitalized on three singles and two UW fielding errors to score two runs in the third.
The bases were loaded for Wisconsin in the bottom of the frame as Valyncia Raphael (La Habra, Calif.) drew a walk, Lynn Anderson (Neenah, Wis.) was hit and Katie Soderberg (Delta, British Columbia) singled. Wisconsin tallied one run as Livi Abney (Lawrence, Kan.) was hit by Minnesota's Briana Hassett. The bases remained loaded for Jennifer Krueger (Portage, Wis.) but she struck out to end the inning, stranding all three baserunners.
Minnesota used a seven-run inning to take the 14-4 lead which was never relinquished. Barns got things started with her double to left field and then was brought home by Shannon Stemper as she hit one to the opposite way. After Natalie Neal reached on a fielding error to load the bases, Casey Wheeler brought home Stemper on her single to left field. Powers continued her hot day at the plate with her second single of the day, this one scoring two for the Gophers. Conway added to her RBI total as she drove in Powers. Barns recorded her second RBI in the game with her single to centerfield, scoring Conway.
Wisconsin's leading batter was Garcia as she finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and three RBIs.
Be sure to check back to uwbadgers.com for a complete season recap as well as historical information on milestones met in the 2008 season.
