CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Wisconsin softball team kicked off the first day of the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with two wins, one over No. 24 Central Florida and another versus Notre Dame.

In the first game of the day, the Badger offense was on fire, outhitting the ranked Knights of UCF 9-1 in a six inning matchup. 

UCF strikes first, giving the Knights the lead in the first innings, but it was all Badgers from there as Wisconsin went on to score one run in the first, four I the third, three in the fourth and one m or in the fifth en route to a win in only five innings of play.

In the bottom of the first, freshman Ellie Hubbard singled in the leadoff position of the order and then senior Kayla Konwent singled to right, scoring Hubbard from second.

All tied at one, senior center fielder Ally Miklesh drew a walk to become Wisconsin's leadoff baserunner. Then, in a triumphant and long anticipated return, Konwent got ahold of her first home run of the year over the left center wall. 

A moment that all sports fans love to see, Konwent took two years off from college softball after finishing her undergraduate degree in 2019 and now makes the return to the plate to hit the first Badger home run of the year.

Konwent spoke to her big hit by saying, "It felt incredible... it kind of just shows that you've just got to keep getting better each pitch, each at bat to get a feeling like that." When Head Coach Yvette Healy was asked what it meant to see that ball go over the fence, she simply said, "I cried. It was just one tear, but I'm just so proud of her."

But that was just the beginning of the day for Konwent and the Badgers. After senior Jolie Fish drew another walk for Wisconsin, Junior Fiona Girardot doubled, putting runners at second and third. Fish wouldn't remain at third long, scoring on a wild pitch putting the score at 3-1 Badgers while Girardot advanced two third.

Two back to back hits from sophomore Skylar Sirdashney and Peyton Bannon scored Girardot and sent Wisconsin into the fifth inning with a 4-1 lead.

After a quick top of the fifth, put together by winning pitcher Ava Justman who finished with four strikeouts, only allowing three hits on 18 batters faced, the Badger bats were back to work in the bottom of the fifth.

Freshman Brooke Kuffel started the inning with her first career hit, a single to center field. After that, Miklesh drew her second walk of the ball game followed by another hit from Hubbard to load the bases. Notching her third RBI of the day, Konwent scored Kuffel by grounding out on a fielders choice. 

With Fish reaching on a RBI fielders choice, scoring Miklesh and Girardot putting up a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Hubbard, the bases were cleared as the Badgers took a 8-1 lead into the next inning.

Justman kept the door closed on the UCF offense from the circle as the Badgers added one more run in the fifth inning off of two hits from Morgan Kummer and Christaana Angelopulos, run ruling the Knights 9-1.

In the second game of the day from Eddie C. Murphy Softball Complex, a low scoring game was highlighted by the work in the circle by senior pitcher Maddie Schwartz. 

Schwartz went the distance, going seven innings while allowing only four hits, one run and posted six strikeouts in the process. 

The Badgers went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning after a Konwent double off the fence. Sirdashney sent home Molly Schlosser, who pinch-ran for Konwent, to give UW a 1-0 lead.

In a pitching dual throughout the game, Wisconsin added to its lead in the top of the sixth inning as Sirdashney launched a home run into right center to give the Badgers a 2-0 lead. 

In an exciting finish with two outs left in the bottom of the seventh, Notre Dame posted runners at first and second when the Fighting Irish's Joley Mitchel sent a shallow fly ball into center field. With three Badger all converging, unable to make the catch, one run scored cutting the UW lead to one as the game tying run rounded third for Notre Dame. All in the same play, Hubbard picked up the ball and fired it to the plate, throwing out the Notre Dame runner at home and saving extra innings for the Badgers. 

Up Next:
UW returns to action on Friday at 10:30 a.m. CT against Auburn. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN+.