BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Badgers came ready to play for the first day at the Joan Joyce Classic after the first game against FAU was postponed due to travel difficulties. Wisconsin opened up the tournament Friday morning with a 6-0 win against Boston College and continued the success against North Carolina winning 4-2.

BOSTON COLLEGE 

Brooke Kuffel picked up where she left off as she hit her second home run in as many weekends to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Kuffel finished with three hits, going 3-for-3 with a HR, 2B, and three RBI. 

Sophomore Ellie Hubbard had plenty of action on the field as she assisted in two double plays in the second and third inning. The shortstop ended with six assists through seven innings and made challenging plays look routine. Wisconsin's defense turned three double plays with another in the sixth inning for the first time since 2017 and just the fourth time ever. 

In the top of the fourth, Katie Keller was walked to start the inning. Kayla Konwent then singled to add another base runner. Kuffel stayed hot and launched a double to left center, scoring Marytherese Nevin, pinch-running for Keller. Peyton Bannon then continued with an RBI sacrifice bunt to score Konwent, and the Badgers came out of the inning up 3-0.

Boston College tripled to the right center to put a runner on third with two outs in the bottom of the inning; however, Maddie Schwartz was able to get out of the fourth scoreless as she posted a strikeout to the next batter. 

The seventh inning was nothing short of exciting as the team added three more insurance runs. Molly Schlosser was walked and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Christanna Angelopolus. Skylar Sirdashney capitalized on the opportunity and doubled to center field to score Schlosser. 

Keller then singled, adding a hit in her fifth-straight game, to place batters on first and third. With then three more walks in the inning, twice when bases were loaded, Wisconsin scored two more runs and finished the game 6-0.

Maddie Schwartz was the winning pitcher as she threw six innings after getting the start. The grad student gave up just five hits and one walk and had five strikeouts. Gabi Salo came in to close the game and did so successfully in three batters faced.

UNC

Wisconsin carried over the momentum from the previous game and their offense continued to pound out hits. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Kayla Konwent hit a two-run homer for her second of the year. The Badgers went up 2-0 but that score did not stay for long as Molly Schlosser tripled to right center to score Bree Mitchell who singled the at-bat before. 

The next few innings, the bats were quiet on both sides until UW's Peyton Bannon hit a triple to the fence in the bottom of the fourth. Rylie Crane then laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Bannon while making it to first safely and Wisconsin making it a 3-0 game.

North Carolina did not back down easy, though, as they started a sixth inning rally late in the game. A two run home run put the Tarheels back in the game, and a single following it; however, Paytn Monticelli shut down any additional runs from UNC with a big strikeout to end the inning.

The Badgers bats continued to impress as both Ava Kuszak and Molly Schlosser hit two more singles in the bottom of the sixth in response. Wisconsin finished with five players getting a hit, Kayla Konwent leading the way going 3-for-3 and Schlosser 2-for-3. 

Wisconsin put together a complete game together both offensively and defensively. Paytn Monticelli started on the mound against the Taheels and threw a complete game, allowing just four hits, two runs, and zero walks. ​​The freshman also broke her individual career record against UNC with 13 strikeouts, and the most from a UW pitcher since 2012 (14). 

"Batting Cleanup"

• Wisconsin totaled 15 hits in the two games combined
• Schwartz and Monticelli allowed just nine hits combined
• Head Coach Yvette Healy now has 497 career victories with two wins today

Up Next: The Badgers will return to the field tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. to face UNC once again. Villanova will then be the Badger's next test at 1:00 p.m. CT