March 13, 2011
• Box Score | Box Score 
Wisconsin 4, UNLV 3
Campus Diamond • Santa Barbara, Calif.
| |
| |
 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | | UNLV | 0
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3
| 10 | 1 | Wisconsin
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 4
| 11 | 1 | | | | | | Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | W
| Darrah (6-1) | 7.0 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4
| 2 | | L | Wagner (1-2) | 3.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | | |
| |
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- In an all-around, team effort, it was a classic case of speed, power, pitching and defense that led Wisconsin to a 4-3 win over UNLV on Sunday at the Gaucho Classic.
The Badgers (8-7) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Rebels (13-9) tied it up in the sixth. Wisconsin put up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth, but then had to hold off a scoring threat in the top of the seventh.
Fast Facts
| • Rebels load bases in 7th, Badgers' D steps up
| • Blackshear hits first home run of season
| • Krueger pushes hit streak to 18 games
| |
UNLV tied the game in the sixth, but Wisconsin rallied in the bottom of the inning to move back in front.
Jennifer Krueger, who went 2-4 on the day to extend her school-record hitting streak to 18 games, used her speed to record an infield hit with one out and then stole second. Freshman Mary Massei, who had two hits in the game, followed by driving the ball to center field and legging out an RBI triple.
The go-ahead three-bagger set the stage for a thrilling finish.
The Rebels opened the seventh by getting a leadoff double from Tayler Aleman, a walk from Pauline Monreal and an infield single from Kylie Wagner. The bases loaded, no-out situation put the Badgers on the ropes, but that's when the team's defense came through.
Paige Emerson grounded a pitch right back to pitcher Cassandra Darrah who threw home to catcher Dana Rasmussen to force out Aleman. Rasmussen then threw down to Stephanie Peace, who was making her first career start at first base, to get the double play.
With the momentum switching from UNLV to UW, Darrah finished the game off by getting Bri Bernardi to strike out swinging.
Darrah improved to a team-best 6-1 on the season with the win, yielding 10 hits and three earned runs while striking out two and walking four.
After a scoreless first inning, Wisconsin struck first and took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Kendall Grimm led off by pulling a single through the right side and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Skinner. Rasmussen struck out on a check swing for the second out, but Peace battled through a 10-pitch at bat before lacing a double to straight-away center field to bring home Grimm.
After surviving the first threat of the day from the Rebels, the Badgers used the long ball in the third inning to extend the lead to 3-0.
UNLV put runners on second and third with only one out in the top of the stanza, but Tayler Van Acker grounded out to Darrah for the second out and shortstop Michelle Mueller made a great lunging grab over her left shoulder on a line drive to end the inning.
Karla Powell led off the bottom of the frame with a double to left field. She was sacrificed to third by Mueller and Shannel Blackshear followed Mueller's bunt with her first home run of the season, a shot to center field.
The Rebels, who have defeated three SEC schools this year, including No. 3 Tennessee, put a runner on third again in the fourth inning with one out, but again the Badgers kept them off the scoreboard. This time, Mueller fielded a pair of grounders to get Wisconsin out of the situation.
UNLV finally broke through in the sixth, tying the game with three runs, but it only set the stage for the Badgers exploits in the seventh.
The Badgers continue their spring road trip in California on Tuesday, March 15, at the Marina International Hotel Showcase. Wisconsin faces Harvard at 12 p.m. (CT) and host-Loyola Marymount at 3:00 p.m. (CT).
