TEMPE, Ariz. – The Wisconsin softball team swept the second day of the Kajikawa Classic with a 3-2 win against Nevada and a 13-5 run-rule victory over Portland State on Saturday.

"Two wins in a day, it's been a very exciting opening weekend," head coach Yvette Healy said. "I thought we played a lot better defense today and we had some really exciting defensive plays. More than anything I thought we had a really gutsy performance all day.

"I thought our pitchers, Taylor (Stewart) and Kirsten (Stevens) after throwing exciting games yesterday came back and gave so much to us. It was fun to watch that. We got to see a lot of different people swing the bat and saw a grand slam from Brooke (Mann). We had a good balance on offense and it was a good day all around."

An explosive first inning blasted the Badgers past the Portland State Vikings in the second game of the day. UW put up seven runs off of six hits and no errors in just the bottom half of the first frame.

Senior Ashley Van Zeeland got the Badger offense going with a single to shortstop while junior Chloe Miller followed up with a walk. Freshman Melanie Cross followed in suit to Van Zeeland with a single to shortstop that scored Van Zeeland and pushed Miller to third.

Sophomore Samantha Arents loaded up the bases with a blast to left field. With bases loaded, freshman Kelly Welsh fired off a double that brought in two more Badger runs. Senior Macy Oswald was hit by a pitch to load the bases up once again for freshman Brooke Mann.

Mann, in just the ninth plate appearance of her career, knocked a grand slam out of the park to clinch a steady 7-0 lead for Wisconsin after just one inning of play.

Portland State was able to put one run on the board in the top of the second but the Badgers answered back when Oswald hit a double that brought in McKenna Heim.
PSU brought in two more runs at the top of the third off of four hits but UW had an answer once again with a run scored in the bottom of the third.

The Vikings rallied off a run in both the fourth and fifth innings but it wasn't enough as UW finished off the game with four runs on no hits or errors. Gabby Scherle, Kelsey Jenkins, Van Zeeland and Miller were all walked in to score.

In UW's 3-2 win in its first game of the day over Nevada, The Badgers got off to a hot start in the second inning against the Wolf Pack thanks to a run from sophomore Brianna Flugaur. Flugaur came in to pinch run for freshman Melanie Cross, who was hit by the pitch to lead off, and advanced to third off of a sacrifice bunt from freshman Kelly Welsh. Sophomore Samantha Arents knocked down a bunt single to score Flugaur and give UW an early 1-0 lead.

The Badgers capitalized on a slew of errors from the Wolf Pack in the top of the fourth inning and scored two runs off of one hit and three Wolf Pack mishaps.

Junior Sara Novak reached on a throwing error to start the inning off and with freshman McKenna Heim in to pinch run for the third baseman, the Badgers stole second.

Senior Macy Oswald, who came in to pinch hit for Welsh, came up with a big single to center that advanced Heim to third. Arents reached on a fielder's choice but advanced to second on a botched throw that allowed both Welsh and Heim to cross the plate. UW led 3-0 after four innings of play.

Nevada rallied late in the game, putting up one run in bottom of the sixth inning. The Wolf Pack's Jasmine Jenkins singled up the middle for Nevada's sixth hit of the game. After Melissa Arriaga doubled down the left field line, UW made a pitching change from junior Kirsten Stevens to senior Taylor-Paige Stewart. But with two runners on the basepath, Nevada was able to utilize the opportunity to hit a sacrifice fly and bring in a lone run.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Badgers left a runner stranded at second Jenkins doubled down the left field line but Van Zeeland and Miller both went out on a line out and ground out, respectively.

Nevada inched closer to UW in the top of the seventh, scoring an additional run off of two hits. Aaliyah Gibson hit a moon shot over the fence to bring the Wolf Pack within one, 3-2. But Stewart fired back-to-back strikeouts to clinch the save.

Nevada outhit Wisconsin 9-5 but UW forced three Nevada errors while committing none. A trio of Badgers collected doubles.

Stevens picked up her second win of the season with 5.1 innings pitched, allowing seven hits and one run but striking out six. Stewart who sealed her first save of the season, struck out four of the seven batters she faced in 1.2 innings of play.

The last time the Badgers won two games in one day was against Valparaiso on April 8 last season.

Wisconsin wraps up action at the Kajikawa Classic with a 10 a.m. (CT) game against UC Riverside.