It was an exciting weekend for the Badgers (7-2) with three games scheduled in two days, with the cancellation of one of the games against Tulsa due to weather, a quick 17-hour turnaround caused quite the test.
It was no match for Wisconsin though, as the Badgers took early leads in both games and never looked back, beating Tulsa (1-8) 5-2 and Iowa State (5-4) 11-8 at the Dream City Invitational in Arlington, TX.
Against Tulsa, multi-hit performances from sophomore utility Kendra Lewis, junior infielder Alivia Bark and junior outfielder Danielle Lucey provided a good cushion for freshman pitcher Berritt Herr in the circle, including a late-game home run from redshirt freshman infielder Jaclyn Showalter, her first of the year.
Scoring festivities started early, scoring two runs before an out was recorded. A HBP to senior catcher Emily Bojan was accompanied by a passed ball allowing an advancement to second, junior catcher Hilary Blomberg drove her home, advancing to second on the throw. Then, Lewis singled to drive in Blomberg.
After Tulsa answered with a bases-loaded walk, Wisconsin netted two more in the fifth inning thanks to a Lucey single, driving in Bark and Showalter.
Tulsa ended up knocking out Herr in the bottom of the frame. Relieving Herr, senior pitcher Shelby Jacobson closed out the remaining 2.2 innings with just two hits and one walk.
In the top of the seventh, Showalter belted her first home run of the year, giving Jacobson an insurance run, guiding the Badgers for their third win of the invitational.
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The final game for Wisconsin in Arlington started with a 10-run first inning. Batting around, Wisconsin opened the flood gates with a Bojan single, a Blomberg walk, a Lewis walk (scoring Bojan), a Showalter walk, a Bark single (scoring Lewis and Blomberg), a Lucey sacrifice fly (scoring Showalter) and a reach on a fielding error from freshman catcher Addison Wery (scoring Bark). Then came a bunt single from junior infielder Makenzie Foster, a reach on a fielding error from sophomore infielder Hannah Conger (scoring King) and a Bojan single.
Blomberg stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and blasted a grand slam to put Wisconsin up by 10. Wisconsin would put up just one more run in the third frame with a home run from Bojan, her first on the year.
Iowa State would steadily score throughout the rest of the game, even putting up back-to-back three-run frames, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit created in the first inning. Badgers closed out the Dream City Invitational undefeated.
UW starts a new tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, Friday, Feb. 20th, where they will compete against UConn (2-7), FGSU (5-5), Louisville (7-3) and Buffalo (2-8) in the Gulf Coast Classic.
