Wisconsin softball traveled down to Tampa Bay to participate in the South Florida Showdown tournament this past weekend to compete against the host, the University of South Florida, Louisville, Troy and Kent State.
The Badgers went 3-2 on the weekend, highlighted by a pair of outstanding offensive performances — one of which set a program record. Now through three tournaments, Wisconsin boasts a 9-6 record.
It was another exceptional weekend in the circle for graduate student Gabi Salo, pitching in four of five games and totaling a 0.66 earned run average with eight strikeouts and no walks across 13.2 innings. She now holds a 1.23 ERA across 36.2 innings this season.
The trio of sophomore Alivia Bark, senior Brooke Kuffel and junior Emily Bojan paced the Badgers offense. Bark led off in three of the five games and went 5-for-16 (0.313) at the plate, including three doubles while adding three runs batted in and four runs. Kuffel went 5-for-15 (0.333) with a double and the team’s only triple while totaling five RBI. Unlike Bark and Kuffel, Bojan did her damage in the back half of the order. She went 4-for-11 (0.364) with three doubles, four walks, four runs and two stolen bases.
Wisconsin kicked off the weekend with a win, defeating Louisville 4-1. Freshman Kendra Lewis drew the start and fired 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing the Badgers to garner an early lead after a two-RBI single by Bojan in the bottom half of the second frame. Sophomore Danielle Lucey’s solo homer — the Badgers’ lone round-tripper of the tournament — expanded Wisconsin’s lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning before the Cardinals got on the board with a two-out hit by Bri Despines off Molly Jacobson. Kuffel drove in senior Molly Schlosser, who reached on a single and stole second base for the game’s final run.
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The second game came against USF, and despite the home-field advantage, the Bulls were blown out 12-4 by the Badgers. Wisconsin produced a program-record eight doubles in the victory.
Three of those doubles came in the first inning, as the Badgers put up five runs on the back of an RBI triple from Kuffel, an RBI double by Bark and a two-RBI double by Lewis. Lewis showcased her two-way prowess, picking up the victory after starting the contest and pitching 2.1 innings while going 3-for-3 with three two-RBI doubles.
Wisconsin followed up its five-run first inning with two more runs in the second, putting USF into an insurmountable deficit.
The Badgers couldn’t maintain their winning ways in the third game, falling to the Troy Trojans 6-2. Wisconsin’s offense was nowhere to be seen, going scoreless on two hits until the seventh inning, when they plated two batters on one hit and two errors.
It was a lights-out performance for Troy’s sophomore pitcher Alyssa Faircloth, who went seven full innings and punched out 10 Badger hitters. Lewis wound up with the loss after yielding a pair of runs over 3.1 innings to start the game.
Wisconsin rebounded to close out its Saturday doubleheader, defeating Kent State 8-0 in a five-inning run-rule win. Salo started in the circle and fired four scoreless innings to earn the victory before freshman Jordan Felci delivered a perfect fifth inning to ensure the win. The Badgers’ offensive strategy contrasted that of its win over USF, prioritizing speed over power and stealing eight bases — the second most in program history.
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The Badgers scored in all five innings, kicking off the game with a pair of first-inning runs on an RBI double by Schlosser and an RBI single by Kuffel. Wisconsin poured on three more runs in the third frame, which featured five stolen bases.
The Badgers ended the weekend like it started, lining up across the diamond from the Louisville Cardinals. Each team started the same pitcher, with Lewis toeing the rubber for Wisconsin and Alyssa Zabala in the circle for the Cardinals.
Lewis couldn’t replicate her first game success, yielding a solo and two-run home run while failing to make it out of the first inning. Salo took over for Lewis with two outs in the first frame and stopped the bleeding. But an error by redshirt senior Emmy Wells set up a pair of runs in the second inning to put the Cardinals ahead 5-0.
Wisconsin scraped across a run in the third inning when Bark plated freshman Emma King on an RBI double. While Salo wouldn’t allow Louisville to score the rest of the way, the Badgers mustered up just one hit over the next four innings, taking the 5-1 loss.
The Badgers will head back south next weekend to participate in the Chanticleer Showdown hosted by Coastal Carolina, where they’ll play CCU, Connecticut and Bowling Green.