MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin softball team will now fight for the series win against Michigan on Sunday after falling in five innings, 10-2, to No. 17/19 Michigan (33-10-1, 13-3) on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Diamond.

The matchup got off to a slow start, but the Badgers (28-11, 7-9) struck first in the bottom of the second. Freshman Jordan Little reached base on a walk, advancing to third base on an error and a walk that loaded the bases. Senior Chloe Miller stepped up and sent a sac fly to center, scoring Little and giving the Badgers a 1-0 advantage.

Michigan retaliated in the following innings, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the third before putting up five in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead.

Wisconsin cut the Wolverine lead to five in the bottom of the fifth, making the score 7-2 after junior Kelsey Jenkins sent a hard single through the left side to score Welsh. Welsh singled to reach base, putting herself into scoring position by stealing second.

The Wolverines added three runs in the fifth inning on a pinch-hit homer from Kelly Christner, widening the lead to 10-2. Wisconsin loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame, hoping to extend Saturday's contest, but couldn't bounce back against junior pitcher Tera Blanco and fell in five innings.

Notes to Know: 
- Wisconsin is now 2-4 against ranked opponents. 
- All-time, Wisconsin is 4-3 against teams ranked No. 19. 
-Wisconsin was only struck out three times by Michigan. 
- Senior Chloe Miller recorded her 42nd RBI, a team high. 
- Kirsten Stevens struck out a game-high three batters. 
- Stephanie Lombardo led the Badgers with two hits, one day after her walk-off home run. 
-1,147 fans were in attendance at Goodman Diamond.

Details from the Dugout:
On what hampered their ability to get on base after the first couple innings: 
"I thought when they made a pitching change. (Tera) Blanco came in and did a really nice job." 

On the mindset of the team: 
"We have to reset. I thought Michigan played really well. They came out firing and we didn't play as good of defense as I think we could've. I think that's what it kind of came down to. Stevens made some good pitches and we just have to play harder, play better behind her. Tomorrow's another day." 

On the chance of winning the series: 
"We talk about it all the time of you try to give yourself the chance to win the series on Sunday and we've done that. So you go into it and you've got to flush and learn from today and get ready to go after the series tomorrow." 

On if tiredness is starting to roll in after playing so many games this week: 
"I don't think it's tiredness. I think it's a lot of emotion coming off of the game last night but we have better softball in us. So right now our focus is just playing good softball and if you do that you've got a chance to win games and we've see ourselves do it before. It's a matter of coming out tomorrow, coming out on Sunday. The team loves to play on Sunday and you've got senior day tomorrow and we've got a chance to play in front of a big crowd and win a series against Michigan. I don't think you've got a better story for it." 

On senior day: 
"Senior day is always emotional. It's exciting. This has been a great class and I think they're hungry to keep playing. We don't try to talk about the end of the year too much because this is an early one for us. We've got another couple weekends on the road still. I think tomorrow we'll say thank you so they can do it in front of their home crowd but from a coaching standpoint we don't look at it like our last game. We've got some good weeks later on still and we're just looking to play good in front of a big crowd and let the seniors kind of enjoy and get those cheers and applause they really deserve."
-UW Head Coach Yvette Healy

Up Next: 
The Badgers will play for the series on Sunday, facing Michigan in a 1 p.m. matchup that will also serve as Senior Day for Kirsten Stevens, Taylor Berry, Sara Novak and Chloe Miller. The game is also Wisconsin's annual "Get to Goodman" game, where the Badgers hope to break the Goodman Diamond attendance record of 2,007 fans.