NORMAN, Okla. – The Wisconsin softball team earned its right to play another day after an epic come-from-behind win against Notre Dame in the elimination bracket Saturday night. The Badgers downed the Irish, 5-4, in walk-off fashion to advance to Championship Sunday of the Norman regional in the NCAA Tournament.
NOTRE DAME
Trailing 4-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Badgers rallied back for a thrilling walkoff win. Freshman
Jolie Fish started the inning with a walk. Senior
Kelly Welsh knocked in UW's first run with a double in the next at bat to spark the comeback.
A fielding error two batters later allowed Welsh to score and
Ally Miklesh to reach base to bring up the top of the lineup. Notre Dame walked
Kayla Konwent, who had already tallied two doubles on the day, for two Badgers on base.
Senior
Stephanie Lombardo stepped up to the plate with UW trailing by two with two outs and proved that it's never too late to win a ballgame. She smashed a ball to deep left center for the walkoff winner, a three-run dinger!
No. 1 OKLAHOMA
The Badgers hung tight with the best team in the country in their first game of the day. Stellar pitching and defense limited a lethal Sooner team to only two runs until the Sooners broke through with a two-run home run in the seventh inning.
Starting pitcher
Haley Hestekin went 4.1 innings and only allowed one earned run. The sophomore tallied three strikeouts and gave up only two walks to the 23 batters she faced.
UW was unable to break through offensively to suffer its first loss of the tournament.
On deck
Wisconsin will have another go at No. 1 Oklahoma tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be live on ESPN3.
