MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin softball team earned 17 hits en route to winning both games of its doubleheader with Illinois at Goodman Diamond Thursday afternoon. UW took game one 4-2 before coming out on top 6-2 in game two four four-straight wins.
GAME ONE
Wisconsin outhit Illinois 7-2 in the first game of the en route to a 4-2 victory. Senior Brooke Wyderski led all players with three hits, including two doubles.
Freshman Taylor Johnson helped the Badgers to a hot start by singling to right field in the first inning and advanced to second on a passed ball. A wild pitch moved her to third and she was joined on the basepath by Kelsey Jenkins after she was walked. Brooke Wyderski knocked in the first run of the day in the next at-bat, singling to shallow center and scoring Johnson. Melanie Cross moved Jenkins to third off a sacrifice fly allowing her to score off a Lauren Foster fielder's choice. UW took a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play.
The Badgers tacked on another two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Gabby Scherle doubled to reach base and advanced to third off a sacrifice bunt and scored off a sacrifice fly by Johnson. Jenkins kept the inning alive with a single to right field and was sent home off in the next at-bat when Wyderski doubled to left field.
UW led 4-0 going into the seventh inning, but the Illini did not go down easy. Back-to-back singles with no outs helped put two runs on the board before Wisconsin sealed the 4-2 win.
GAME TWO
Thanks to home runs from Johnson and Stephanie Lombardo, the Badgers took down Illinois 6-2 for their second win of the day.
Wisconsin exploded in the fourth inning, starting with Lauren Foster singling to right field. Brianna Flugaur pinch run and advanced to second when Sydney Lawson singled on a beautiful bunt. Lombardo made the Illini pay with a three-run homer to put the Badgers up 4-0.
The first run came in the first inning when Johnson hit a leadoff solo home run, her fourth of the season.
After Johnson singled in the sixth inning, Kelsey Jenkins stepped up to the plate and hit a bomb to deep center field to score Johnson. Jenkins advanced to third on the throw to the plate and scored a run of her own on a fielder's choice that got Cross out at first.
Illinois got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, loading the bases before scoring when Veronica Ruelius was hit by a pitch. They put up a second run on fielder's choice but couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 6-2.
Notes to know
-Senior Brooke Wyderski lead the team with five hits.
-Pitchers Kaitlyn Menz and Haley Hestekin each tallied five strikeouts while only allowing a combined six runs on the day.
-Kelsey Jenkins extended her on-base streak school record to 36 games.
-Stephanie Lombardo's homer was her third of the season and the 10th of her career.
On deck
Wisconsin and Illinois are set to play game three of the series tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Stay tuned to Twitter and uwbadgers.com for game change updates.
