MADISON, Wis. – The game may have taken 11 innings, but it was well worth the wait as the Wisconsin softball team edged No. 17 Michigan, 1-0, at Goodman Diamond on Friday night, thanks to a walk-off home run from Stephanie Lombardo.

The victory marks the first time in program history that the Badgers (28-10 overall, 7-8 Big Ten) have defeated the Wolverines (32-10-1, 12-3) in Madison. Also of note, this is the fifth time this season that the Wolverines have been shut out, but the first time leaving the diamond scoreless at the hands of an unranked opponent.

With the scoreboard posting plenty of zeros entering the bottom of the 11th, Lombardo stepped up to the challenge right away and blasted a ball toward the right side of the field that sailed over the wall, giving the team the marquee win.

Michigan had plenty of opportunities to steal the win away from the Cardinal and White, but some clutch Wisconsin defensive plays prohibited UM from finding home base.

At the top of the 10th with bases loaded for the Maize and Blue, Kelly Welsh made a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy catch over the back wall to give Michigan its third out and send the game to the bottom of the inning.

Pitcher Kaitlyn Menz was a key contributor in blanking UM, pitching all 11 innings and allowing just six hits in 174 total pitches. Menz also recorded six total strikeouts and only allowed five Wolverine hitters to walk.

The Badgers had a close opportunity to take the victory in the seventh inning after Brianna Flugaur stole second and reached third on an error, but was tagged out just short of home base after a bunt by Melanie Cross.

Another offensive highlight came from Heather Rudnicki in the second inning after she avoided being tagged out while stealing second base by slightly twisting her body to avoid the baseman's glove.

Notes to Know:
-Stephanie Lombardo smoked her seventh home run of the season to secure the walk-off win
-The win marks the first time Wisconsin has beaten Michigan in Madison.
-Wisconsin has gone into extra innings in two consecutive series, going 3-3 in extras this season
-Kaitlyn Menz threw a career high 11 inning, allowing only six hits and no runs.
-Michigan has been shut out five times this season, but Wisconsin is the first unranked opponent to shut the Wolverines out.

Details from the Dugout:
"I'm actually not too tired yet, I'll probably feel it in the morning when I wake up. Hasn't hit me yet.
"I was probably one of the first people out of the dugout (after Steph Lombardo's home run). I climbed over the fence and I was like, 'this is gone, we won.'
"I think it was awesome to go head-to-head with an All-American as a freshman. Coach V told me before the game, 'you're going to go head-to-head with an All-American, you got this.' She's a good pitcher and it was awesome to pitch with her.
"It's awesome, it feels amazing. After we lost to Minnesota, we were super bummed but we came back firing strong, and it's nice to get that win from Michigan."
-Kaitlyn Menz

"It felt pretty good (her home run), it was on the sweet spot. I swung hard and I hit it."
"[Betsa] had been getting us with her change up all night and I got fooled by quite a few. She finally brought it to me again and I knew it was coming"
"Kate is phenomenal, especially today. She bared down with runners in scoring position, she never lost her fight and she knew we had her back."
"[Her family] is just as happy  as we are. I've been dreaming about this moment since I was little."
"We knew we were a good team, and we had that long game against Minnesota and it didn't go our way. But this one, we knew we had the fight and we came out on top."
-Stephanie Lombardo

"What an exciting night. We've been grinding all year, we've been really knocking on the door against some great teams and to see the team come through and push the win across in front of our home crowd was exciting."
"Kate just kept grinding, she wasn't stressed. As tough as Betsa was, and I tip my hat to her career-high strikeouts, but I really have to commend us of we didn't lose the fight. I think everyone was in it for the fight and excited about it. The hitters and the energy in the dugout didn't feel like we only had one hit at that point. But we had runners on base, we were forcing errors, we were stealing bases. We've got a lot of ways to make things happen when we're not hitting."
"We actually said before the game, 'I can't remember Kelly making a web gem this year yet. We were talking about it because she's a phenomenal fielder, she's done them before and she had huge catches last year against Ohio State, so it was fun that we knew she had that in the tank. We were joking like, 'should we put her in another field?' She came on strong and made a great play.
"I thought that Novak did a great job, she had some hot shots at her and she stayed composed, even taking one off the face and she still got the out. When Kate's pitching that hard, I think her defense has her back and they were playing their hearts out."
"Steph Lombardo, she did it on defense too. She wasn't just hitting. She was having diving plays, she was stopping balls and getting lead runners. How cool to have a kid that was a camper years ago in the stands follow through and become a scholarship recruit for us and get a walk-off win, that's every kid's dream."
-UW Head Coach Yvette Healy
 
Up Next:
The Badgers will take on the Wolverines in the second game of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).