BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  – A spectacular pitching performance from Kaitlyn Menz led the Wisconsin softball team to a 10-1 blowout of Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon. The Badgers advance to tomorrow's semifinal game against the winner of No. 9 Illinois and No. 1 Michigan.
 
A monstrous four-run first inning gave the Badgers the momentum they needed to down the Buckeyes in six innings. Sophomore Taylor Johnson got on base with a single to center field. She would go on to score UW's first run of the day off a Stephanie Lombard sacrifice fly. Ohio State pitching woes queued the remaining runs in the first. Five Badgers drew walks to score two more runs and a wild pitch brought the fourth run home.
 
Johnson struck again in the second inning with a home run to deep center field for a 5-0 Wisconsin lead.
 
The bats stayed hot in the third frame. Lombardo started the inning with a single and her pinch runner, Tyra Turner, stole second base before scoring on a Caroline Hedgcock single. Junior Jordan Little pun an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run blast to left field for an early 8-0 advantage.
 
After OSU broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Badgers secured their run-rule victory in the top of the sixth with two final runs. With the bases loaded, sophomore Lauren Foster hit a sacrifice fly deep to center field. Junior Sydney Lawson tagged up and sprinted towards home while Johnson did the same from second to third. An error by the third baseman allowed Johnson to advance and score the 10th run of the game.
 
Menz allowed only three hits and one walk in her six complete innings. The Waukee, Iowa native also tallied four strikeouts in her 18th win of the season.   
 

Batting clean-up: Four notes to know

• The Badgers won their 40th game today. Only one other Wisconsin team has reached 40 wins in a season.
• UW's 10-1 win is the largest margin of victory by any Wisconsin team in Big Ten Tournament Play.
• Wisconsin is headed to the B1G semifinals for the fourth time in school history.
• Johnson blasted her 12th homer of the season an Little tallied her seventh long ball in 2019.

 

On deck

The Badgers will play in the Big Ten semifinal game tomorrow at 11 a.m. (CT).