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Badgers sweep first day of Islander Invitational 

 

The Wisconsin softball team got off to the right start at the Islander Invitational, sweeping its doubleheader against Texas A&M Corpus Christi with a pair of wins on Friday. Junior Taylor-Paige Stewart recorded her first win of the season to lead the Badgers (3-4) to a 4-2 victory in the first game, then freshman Annie Davis picked up her second win of the season in UW's 5-4 triumph to claim the second game of the day.

The Badgers and Islanders battled through the first three innings of the first game, as Stewart allowed just one hit and the Islanders limited the Badgers to just four hits.

Freshman Samantha Arents then stepped up to spark a run for the Badgers, sending the first double of her career out in the middle of center and right field. Nyah Rodman came in to pinch run for Arents, as Katie Christner blasted an RBI single to left field.

The Islanders and Badgers stayed quiet offensively through the fifth inning, but the Islanders found an opportunity to score in the sixth inning. Stewart walked the first batter who advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt from Mackinzee Griebel. Dani Teftt singled to the shortstop on the next at bat, giving the Islanders two runners on base. Brittney Morse grounded out to Stewart, but the runners advanced to second and third on the play. A single from Liz Carter then doomed UW and allowed TAMUCC to score two.

Wisconsin got just what it needed in the top of the seventh inning to respond to the Islanders’ two runs. Megan Tancill got the Badgers started with a leadoff single. Fellow senior Marissa Mersch then followed up with a single of her own to third base. Mersch reached second on a fielder’s choice to third base as Kelsey Jenkins got on base at first.

The Badgers’ ace, Taylor-Paige Stewart, swooped in and saved the day when she came in to pinch-hit with two outs. The junior pitcher fired a double through center field and brought in three runs, scoring Chloe Miller, Jenkins and Mersch. Stepping up on both sides for UW, she also recorded her first win of the season on the mound.

UW out-hit TAMUCC nine runs to three. Stewart led all players with three runs batted in, while Christner also added one RBI in the first game.
Stewart finished the game with two earned runs on three hits. She struck out four batters and walked two.

The Badgers, who committed no errors on the day, capitalized on the Islanders’ three miscues in the second game.

The first inning of the second game went by quickly, as Davis took the mound and retired the first three TAMUCC batters in order.

After two quiet innings, Tancill livened things up in the top of the third when she stole second base and then also advanced to third on a throwing error after singling to third base. Mersch singled through the right side to bring Tancill home and gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead.

Wisconsin kept building momentum in the fourth inning, as Miller doubled to left field and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. With Miller on at third base, Ashley Van Zeeland reached on a fielder’s choice to pitcher. The Islanders’ pitcher lost control on the throw, allowing Van Zeeland to advance to second and Miller to score on the error.

The Badgers had control in the fifth inning as well when Tancill hit another single down the left field line followed by Maria Van Abel who laid down a bunt single. Freshman Kelsey Jenkins walked to load the bases with two outs. Freshman Samantha Arents then took a hit by pitch and Tancill came in to extend UW’s lead to 3-0 through four and a half innings.

The Islanders got on the board after logging one run and one hit in the bottom of the fifth inning. Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s pitcher, Stephanie Flores, took down the next three Badger bats in order in the top of the sixth.

The Islanders proved they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Teftt got on base with a single to second base and scored off of an RBI single from Jessica Mendez, which cut UW’s lead to 3-2 heading into the seventh inning

The Badgers proved they had a lot of fight in them too. Tancill, who led the team in hits in the second game, came up with her third single of the game on a bunt. Fellow senior Mersch got in on the action with a single of her own, but was thrown out at second base on a fielder’s choice that allowed Tancill to advance to third base and put Jenkins at first base.

It was the freshman from Corona, California, who came up big again in a crucial spot. Arents hit her second double of the day to push Jenkins and Tancill home, securing a 5-2 Badger lead.
The Islanders rallied two more runs off of three hits in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough as UW held on for the 5-4 victory.

Freshman Annie Davis posted her second-career win and threw 124 pitches. She allowed nine hits and four earned runs. Davis struck out two and walked two.


 

 

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