EVANSTON, Ill. – Despite battling to extra innings with Northwestern, the No. 21 Wisconsin softball team fell 5-4 through eight innings after an in the park walkoff home run sealed the win for the Wildcats.

Junior Kelsey Jenkins' solo bomb over the right field wall gave UW the lead it needed in the top of the fifth to recapture a 4-3 lead.

The top of the Badgers' (22-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) lineup turned the game around in the top of the third inning. Despite trailing NU (12-15, 1-1) 2-0 headed into the third, a leadoff walk from Kelly Welsh and single from junior Kelsey Jenkins ignited the Wisconsin offense. Jenkins had the first hit of the game that brought Welsh home to bring UW within one, 2-1. But the momentum of the game changed when senior Chloe Miller blasted out a home run that nearly went into the residential neighborhood behind Drysdale Field.

Northwestern tied it up again with a solo homer of their own in the bottom of the third.

The Badger defense held steady in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings holding the Wildcats scoreless and retiring them in order in the fourth and fifth innings.

However, the Wildcats weren't going down without a fight. They rallied in the bottom of the seventh putting in one run and forcing extra innings with a 4-4 tie.
 
Notes to Know:
-It was Wisconsin's third loss of the season and first loss in extra innings.
-The Badgers will fight for the series win tomorrow. UW has only won one series in Evanston in the history of the program and it was in 2001.
-Chloe Miller extended her hitting streak to 14 games, tying the third-longest hitting streak in program record.
-Miller's third-inning home run, her sixth of the season, also moved her into third all-time with 26 career home runs.
-Kelsey Jenkins recorded her 10th-consecutive game scoring a run for Wisconsin and her eighth-straight game with at least one hit. Jenkins led all Badgers with two hits.
-Miller and Jenkins each batted in two runs.
-Kirsten Stevens (8-1) pitched 7.0 innings, recording three strikeouts and allowing two earned runs.
-Wisconsin committed four errors against the Wildcats, tied for the most this season.

Details from the Dugout:
"The positive is that we still have a chance to win the series. Of course we are going to break down some film tonight and see what we can learn from it but the goal is to win the series. The goal was to win the series when we came down here and that goal is still alive so we put ourselves in a position to still have a chance on Sunday to win.
"I don't think we were as sharp as we needed to be across the board and I give a lot of credit to Northwestern. I thought they pitched well, hit well and defended well. When you get beat in all aspects, it makes it tough to win
"Kudos to the Badgers though, our team didn't play well but we had a ton of fight. I'm really proud of that, to not have that sharp of a game and to still take a team like Northwestern into extra innings is great. If you're going into extras and you're the visiting team you know you're up against it and it's such a tough thing to do. They made us pay and that's what good teams do, it just shows how good our conference is."

- Head coach Yvette Healy

Up Next:
The Badgers are scheduled to close their first Big Ten series against Northwestern on Sunday at noon. Start time is subject to change due to weather conditions.