FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The Wisconsin softball team put a stellar cap on its weekend in Colorado, grinding out a 10-6 victory over Maine (2-9) before securing the second-highest margin of victory in program history with a 16-0 final against Colorado State (12-7).

Maine started strong, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Wisconsin (20-2) quickly tied it up, 1-1, in the bottom of the frame. Junior Kelsey Jenkins led off with a single, moving into scoring position on a ground out before scoring as senior Sara Novak sliced a single up the middle.

Maine regained the lead, 3-1, in the second with a two-RBI single until the Badgers again responded to knot the score, 3-3. With freshman Jordan Little and sophomore Kelly Welsh on base, senior Chloe Miller reached base and advanced on a pair of errors, scoring two Badger runs.

The Black Bears took a 4-3 lead in the top of the third and upped the advantage to 6-3 in the fourth inning, but Novak got the bats swinging again in the bottom of the fourth with runners on the corners, driving in two runs to cut the lead to one before sophomore Stephanie Lombardo stepped up and scored Novak to tie the game at 6-6.

Wisconsin took hold of the lead in the top of the fifth, 7-6, but put the game away in the next inning with a three-run dinger from Lombardo to clinch the 10-6 victory.

The Badgers took the momentum straight into the final game of the weekend, capping the tournament with a 16-0 statement over CSU.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Wisconsin tacked on four runs in the second and five runs in the third inning to lead 11-0. The Badgers put up back-to-back moon shots in the third inning, when Jenkins and Miller both sent dingers over the Rams.

The home runs didn't stop there though as Lombardo and Little each smacked homers in the fourth, where the Badgers ended the inning with a 14-0 advantage before tacking on two more runs in the fifth inning for the 16-0 win.
 
 
Notes to Know
-Wisconsin put up back-to-back home runs against CSU when Kelsey Jenkins and Chloe Miller each went yard in the third inning. The last time Wisconsin had back-to-back home runs was also by Jenkins and Miller on Feb. 21, 2016.
-Wisconsin's four doubles against the Rams ties for the second-most in program history.
-Wisconsin's two home runs in both the third and fourth innings against CSU are tied for the second-most in program history.
-The Badgers also recorded the program's fourth-most RBI (13) and second-most runs (16) against Colorado State.
 
Details from the Dugout
"When people score on them (pitchers), they don't like it, sometimes they'll lose their focus. But she made it all about the team and not about runs given up and just finding ways to be one run better. She did that in that game."

"I think the elements were helping us. You're already in Colorado where the ball flies and then we had some wind behind our back. Kudos to the team for taking advantage of it. I think seeing the swings that we're putting on balls has everything to do with Coach Z and how hard she is working with the approach at the plate, how hard she's working on swings. She's been living in out indoor facility with that team, putting in so many hours and doing a lot of one-on-one work in the cages. To see the team hit like that, I just think shows how much work she's put in and how well it's going.
"That was a wild one. I haven't seen that. When you can match that with really good pitching I think that says a lot. We've got a really good one-two punch right now, Kirsten is throwing the ball well and to have a senior do that and put up a zero in those kind of conditions, as impressive as the runs were, to put a zero up from the pitching and defensive standpoint really is just as impressive in Colorado with the wind blowing out."

"Our goal for the preseason was to teach this team how to win and for them to work together and understand how to come from behind, play together, win game. We did that this preseason. I know how hard the Big Ten is, we'll really have our hands full especially when it's a year you match up and you've got Michigan, Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota. There's not an easy weekend that we're going to have but I'm glad that we've gotten some work in to learn how to win games. Now as we match up against our conference opponents who are just going to be so tough, top to bottom, every single game, hopefully we can carry that confidence with us."
-UW head coach Yvette Healy

"Our hitting was really contagious today, one person started and just everyone behind them started hitting. KJ's home run, and then Chloe's home run and then Brooke's double, then Jordan hitting a home run right after me… everybody got involved and it was great.

"We were just very determined to win today. We really wanted both games, sweeping both teams was a really big thing. We just turned it up and got those wins.

"Twenty wins is a huge thing, so I think that gives us a lot of confidence going into Big Tens."
-Sophomore Stephanie Lombardo
 
Up Next: 
The Badgers finish out the preseason with a trip to Louisville on March 22, facing the Cardinals in a 5 p.m. matchup.