Wisconsin Badgers
Rutgers
Wisconsin drops close call at Rutgers
May 03, 2015 | Softball
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 | Rutgers 3, Wisconsin 2 RU Softball Complex · Attendance: 128 Box Score | Box Score  |  |
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May 3, 2015
PISCATAWAY, NJ -- The Wisconsin softball team dropped a close contest to Rutgers on Sunday afternoon, as the Scarlet Knights hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the Badgers, 3-2, at the RU Softball Complex.
The Badgers (21-31 overall, 5-17 Big Ten) outhit the Scarlet Knights (29-19, 11-12), 9-5. But it was the final hit of the game that made the biggest impact as a seventh-inning lead-off home run from RU's Rebecca Hall gave Rutgers the 3-2 win.
Freshman Kelsey Jenkins led the way for Wisconsin with two RBIs, while senior Megan Tancill contributed a game-high three hits in her final game for the Cardinal and White. Junior Ashley Van Zeeland recorded two hits, including a triple in the second inning.
UW took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning off of three-straight hits. Junior Katie Christner bunted and Tancill followed with a bunt of her own. Jenkins stepped up to the plate and slammed a two-RBI double to give Wisconsin a two-run advantage.
But Wisconsin's lead didn't last long, as Rutgers' Jackie Bates countered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up, 2-2. After two scoreless innings, Hall's round-tripper in the bottom of the seventh gave the home team the 3-2 win.
Junior Taylor-Paige Stewart pitched six innings for Wisconsin, allowing five hits, three earned runs while striking out a pair of Scarlet Knights.
With this weekend's 2-1 series win, Wisconsin's senior class -- Tancill, Marissa Mersch and Maria Van Abel -- finished as the second-winningest class in school history with a win percentage of .619. The trio won 135 games for UW, including 47 Big Ten wins.
"It's been an amazing four years," Tancill said. "Being a part of the success that this program has seen during my time here has been special, and spending it with such great teammates and coaches has truly been a blessing."
