MADISON, Wis. — Rain couldn't stop the Wisconsin softball team from getting in its home opener on Wednesday, and the Badgers bats awakened in the second game of the double header on the way to a 10-2 win over South Dakota and a twin bill split at Goodman Diamond.

Following a 7-6 loss in the first game of the doubleheader, Wisconsin (17-13, 2-1 Big Ten) fell behind in the first inning of the second game. But the Badgers' bats broke loose in the third inning for six runs, and they added three in the fifth to run-rule the Coyotes (7-25, 2-1 Summit League) and improve to 19-15-1 in home openers.

Katie Christner added to her impressive first game performance by scoring the first run for Wisconsin in the bottom of the second, coming around on Melanie Cross' single to knot the game at one. Christner also added a single in the third and eventually scored, giving her three hits and four runs between the two games.

"Katie Christner came in and she was the story of the day, that she gave the team the boost," head coach Yvette Healy said. "She's a senior that's had knee surgery and she's been battling injury, and she and Ashley Van Zeeland, all of them, they keep the team believing."

Right fielder Chloe Miller was the one who started the Badgers' big inning in the third, as she led off with a double. Sara Novak then singled through the left side after a 14-pitch at bat to move Miller to third, and Miller scored a batter later on an errant throw into centerfield, with pinch runner Gabby Scherle trying to steal second, to give UW a 2-1 lead. Sam Arents doubled to right to bring home Scherle, providing Wisconsin with what was the game-winning run.

Kelly Welsh drove in a run with an RBI single later in the inning, and she came around to score along with Christner a batter later thanks to two throwing errors by the Coyotes. The Badgers tacked on the final run in the frame with a sacrifice fly from Kelsey Jenkins.

"I think it happens to a lot of teams," Jenkins said of the big inning. "It's just one inning, the rails just come off and you just keep going. Everything finds a hole, everything finds the bat, so I think that's something that we've put a lot of work into this season."

After yielding the first inning run, Wisconsin pitcher Kirsten Stevens settled down and completed three of the next four innings without allowing a base runner. She finished the day allowing just two runs on four hits, with four strikeouts and no walks in five innings to pick up her eighth win of the year.

Wisconsin took advantage of free passes in the fifth inning to run-rule the Coyotes. Wisconsin scored all three times without the aid of a hit, working six walks and also using a passed ball to score the runs.

"It's tough to be dominant and win every game, but if you can just be in every game and fight and have a chance to win it, it's a good thing," Healy said. "As much as there were times we were pressed, I think in general they were having fun and staying loose and just kept fighting the whole game."

The Badgers were led offensively in the second game by Welsh, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI. In addition to Christner scoring twice, Welsh and Macy Oswald also scored a pair of runs.

In the first game of the doubleheader with South Dakota, Wisconsin tried to stage a late rally, but that rally fell short in a 7-6 loss.

UW came back from a 4-0 deficit with a four-run fifth inning, but South Dakota responded immediately with a three-run sixth inning and held on for the victory in the opening game of the twin bill.

All of Wisconsin's offense came in a two-inning outburst, as the Badgers put up four runs in the fifth and another pair in the sixth to draw back within one, 7-6.

Taylor-Paige Stewart started in the circle for Wisconsin, but struggled and lasted just three innings, yielding three runs, walking four and striking out two.

Despite the early deficit and just two hits through the first four innings, the Badgers' offense answered the call in the fifth inning with the four-run outburst. When Stewart came out of the game in the third, Christner entered the UW lineup, a move that paid big dividends for the offense.

Christner started the Badgers' rally in the fifth with a double to center, and then helped kick start the offense in the sixth with a solo home run to left field.

Following Christner's double in the fifth, Miller singled to get the Badgers on the board and Sara Novak had an RBI groundout a batter later to cut the deficit to two. Sam Arents then singled home Jenkins and Miller to tie it at four.

The Coyotes put up three in the top of the sixth, but UW answered back with a pair of its own to cut the USD lead to one. After Christner's homer, Novak drove in the second run of the inning to make it 7-6, but Wisconsin stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the frame.