AUSTIN, Texas – They say everything is bigger in Texas and that was definitely true of the Wisconsin softball (2-2 overall) bats on the second day of the Texas Classic. The Badgers bounced back from an 0-2 opening day and turned it around on Saturday with a 7-3 comeback win in extra innings against Texas and finished with a dominant 7-1 win over Incarnate Word.
Wisconsin vs. Texas
It took extra innings but the Badgers rallied a comeback to defeat the Texas Longhorns, 7-3, with four huge runs in the eighth frame. After tying it up in the seventh, the Badgers rode the momentum and tallied three hits in the final inning.
Per the international tiebreaker rule, Brooke Wyderski was placed on second to start the eighth inning and was brought in by Melanie Cross, who smashed a double to center field. Stephanie Lombardo followed that up with a two-RBI homer to right field and it was smooth sailing from there. The Badgers secured one final run when freshman Reilly Peters doubled on the first hit of her career, scoring Kelly Welsh.
The Badgers rallied in the seventh inning with one run and two crucial hits from freshman Lauren Foster and junior Gabby Scherle. Foster led off the inning with a single to right field and Sydney Lawson was subbed in to pinch run for her. After junior Kelly Welsh laid down a sac bunt, Lawson moved into scoring territory with two outs before senior Kelsey Jenkins drew a walk. But Scherle was the hero of the game, knocking in the RBI single that scored Lawson and also grabbing the third out and catching the Longhorn runner that forced extra innings.
Down 3-0 headed into the fourth inning, the Badgers needed something, or someone, to light a fire. They needed to look no further than freshman Taylor Johnson, who in her third appearance for UW knocked out a two-run bomb to bring the Cardinal and White within one, 3-2.
The first two innings took nearly 50 minutes to complete and were relatively uneventful until the end of the second inning, when the third hit of the game for Texas batted in its first run. UT used the push from the second inning to ignite a two-run third inning and capture a 3-0 lead while holding the Badgers hitless through three innings.
Wisconsin vs. Incarnate Word
Wisconsin grabbed an early 2-1 lead thanks again from the likes of Lombardo. The junior ripped a two-RBI single through the right side, scoring Wyderski and Scherle. UIW responded in the bottom of the inning with one run.
UW tacked on another run in the top of the second inning when a Wyderski single moved Welsh across home plate. The Badgers cooled off in the third but put another mark on the box score in the fourth when an RBI single from Jenkins scored Lawson.
The Badgers extended a 5-1 lead in the fifth when Welsh singled and brought in Cross. In the final inning, UW plugged in the off of another Jenkins single, her second hit of the game, that scored Welsh, who finished the day with three runs. The seventh and final run came courtesy of Wyderski, who split the right side and allowed Jenkins to stroll in.
Notes to Know:
- Kaitlyn Menz picked up her first win of the season, striking out seven batters, which was just two shy of her career high. She threw 128 pitches and allowed eight hits, three runs and one walk against Texas. Freshman Haley Hestekin picked up her first win of her career against UIW, while Mariah Watts threw two innings in relief against UIW.
- Taylor Johnson started a consecutive three-hit streak for the Badgers in the fourth inning against Texas. She was followed by back-to-back singles for Melanie Cross and Stephanie Lombardo.
- Cross hit her first double of the season and 13th of her career
- Lombardo knocked out the eighth home run of her career and first of the season.
- After no home runs on opening day, the Badgers recorded two on the second day.
- In the first game, Badger freshmen had three of UW's eight hits.
On Deck:
Wisconsin caps off the weekend at the Texas Classic with a rematch against Colorado State at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
