Badgers drop heartbreaker at Northwestern

Friday, March 26

Evanston, IL

3 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

4-9, 4-9

Northwestern

12-1, 12-1

Wisconsin

Northwestern

Badgers drop heartbreaker at Northwestern

March 26, 2021 | Softball

Box Score

Bannon and Donahue hit home runs in setback

EVANSTON, Illinois – The Wisconsin softball team got off to a great start against Northwestern, but was unable to hang on as the Wildcats came back to defeat the Badgers, 6-5, on Friday afternoon.

The Badgers (4-9) got on the board quickly as Peyton Bannon launched a solo shot into left center field on the fifth pitch of the game to give UW a 1-0 lead over Northwestern (12-1).

Top 1 | That's a great way to start the game!@PeytonBannon launches a solo shot to give the #Badgers an early lead! #Badgers 1, Wildcats 0 pic.twitter.com/aIlgZCSCP3
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) March 26, 2021

UW doubled that lead in the second inning as Megan Donahue hit her first home run of the year.

Bannon opened the third with a double and scored on a throwing error with two outs to give UW a 3-0 advantage after three innings.

In the top of the fourth inning, Skylar Sirdashney doubled to center field, scoring Alyssa McClelland and Donahue to give UW a 5-0 advantage.

T4: @skydash02 with a two-run double off the wall!#Badgers 5
Wildcats 0 pic.twitter.com/37XbD3qOn1
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) March 26, 2021

Northwestern came back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-3 contest.

UW came close to adding on an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Morgan Kummer doubled with two outs, but she was later called for interference to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats loaded the bases before and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-4 game before Sydney Supple doubled and scored two runs to give the Wildcats the win.

Batting Cleanup:
- Four of the five runs the Badgers scored on Friday were with two outs.
- Maddie Schwartz allowed only three earned runs today while throwing 120 pitches
- Alyssa McClelland earned her first start for UW, scoring a run while also earning a walk.
- Bannon now has three multi-hit games during her Badger career.

Up Next:
UW continues its four-game set against Northwestern with a noon doubleheader on Saturday before concluding the series on Sunday with a noon game.