March 14, 2015

Furman Box | Furman Box | Charleston Box | Charleston Box

CHARLESTON, S.C.-- The Wisconsin softball team opened action in its last tournament of the season with a 5-3 win over Furman and a 7-2 triumph over College of Charleston. Junior Taylor-Paige Stewart dominated in the circle for the Badgers by first picking up the save against the Paladins and then the win versus the Cougars.

This is just the second time this season that the Badgers opened tournament play with two consecutive wins. Wisconsin now holds an 11-12 overall record on the season.

Freshman Mariah Watts started in the circle for the Badgers in the game against Furman. Furman's Ambree Muller started the game with a single to right center field on the first pitch. Lindsey Bert reached base on an error by Megan Tancill but the Badgers left the two runners stranded to close out the top half of the frame.

UW countered in the bottom half of the frame with three runs and four hits. In similar fashion, senior Maria Van Abel singled on the first pitch and then stole second base. Sophomore Chloe Miller struck a single up the middle and advanced to second base on the throw. With runners on at second and third, junior Ashley Van Zeeland sent a single up the middle to score Van Abel. Freshman Samantha Arents hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Miller and advance Van Zeeland to third.

Senior Megan Tancill wanted a piece of the action and hit a bunt single to score one more run and give the Badgers a steady 3-0 lead after one inning.

In the second, the Paladins left one runner on base after Emma Ogburn reached on an error. Wisconsin notched one more run off of two hits, courtesy of a leadoff double by junior Katie Christner and an RBI double from senior Marissa Mersch.

The Paladins put two more runs on the board off of two hits in the top of the third. Sarah Fonk moved into the circle for the Badgers. Muller hit her second leadoff single of the day and Bert reached base again on a walk. Elise Smith singled through the right side to bring in one run and Natalie Clemmons grounded out to the second baseman, allowing one more run to come through. Furman trailed Wisconsin 4-2 through three innings.

Watts reentered the game in the fourth inning and all three Paladins went down in order. Furman put one more run on the board in the top of the fifth inning off of two hits. Stewart came into the game in the sixth inning to close for the Badgers and ended the Paladins runs. Stewart threw four strikeouts in just 1.1 innings pitched. Watts finished the game with four hits, one earned run, one walk and one strikeout.

Three Badgers, Van Abel, Mersch and Christner, each added two hits apiece in the 5-3 defeat over Furman.

With momentum high off of a game that lasted two hours and twenty minutes, the Badger started their second game of the night 9:25 p.m.

In the two teams first-ever meeting, the Badgers came out on top over the host team College of Charleston. The Badgers outhit the Cougars 7-5 and committed no errors in the contest.

After two quiet innings, UW got on the scoreboard first and had a 1-0 advantage after the third inning. With Christner ready to go at third base, Tancill bunted down the first base line to log the first Badger run.

The Badger bats were on fire in an explosive third inning. Arents led off with a single up the middle and was followed by two walks. With the bases loaded,
Christner smacked the ball down the right side to tally one run. Van Abel hit a single to the pitcher and an error allowed both Christner and Van Zeeland to slide in. The Badgers secured a 4-0 lead through four innings.

The Cougars were able to record one run in the bottom of the sixth but the Badgers answered with three more in the top of the seventh. With one out and
Tancill on at first from a walk, Miller fired a single up the middle. After a double steal, Mersch knocked in a double RBI single. Van Zeeland hit a shot straight to the pitcher to secure one more run and give the Badgers a 7-1 advantage.

College of Charleston managed to get one more run but the Badgers clinched the victory, 7-2.

Miller swiped a team season-high three stolen bases against Charleston. The team finished with 10 stolen bases on the day.

Stewart pitched a complete game and only allowed five hits and two runs. She walked six and struck out five batters.

Wisconsin is back in action at the College of Charleston Invitational in contests against Marist and Memphis. First pitch against Marist is slated for 10 a.m. CT.