Badger Softball sweeps in Boca Raton

By Justin Alpert SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Wisconsin (6-6) collected four wins this weekend at the Joan Joyce Classic in Boca Raton, Florida. The Badgers took down Boston College (8-7) before beating North Carolina (6-9) twice and finishing the tournament by walking o Villanova (6-9).

Third baseman Skylar Sirdashney’s emergence as an e ective leado hitter, combined with Wisconsin’s middle-of-the-order power and some stellar pitching, helped the Badgers even up their early-season record after a rough start.

Friday | 6-0 W vs. Boston

College

Infielder Brooke Ku el starred in the Friday contest. She opened the scoring with a solo home run — her second of the season — in the second inning, then added an RBI double in the fourth. A run-scoring walk added some insurance in Wisconsin’s threerun seventh inning. Ku el, batting cleanup, finished 3-for-3 with three RBI, a run and a walk.

Maddie Schwartz, meanwhile, took care of the Eagles without much trouble. In six shutout frames she struck out five and held BC to five hits. The Eagles had runners in scoring position in the first, third and fourth innings, but Schwartz ended those threats with two strikeouts and a double play.

The Badgers had a modest seven hits in the victory, but BC pitchers did issue nine walks. Katie Keller led the way with three free passes. Sirdashney drew a walk as well, and she also doubled in a two-hit, one-RBI performance.

Friday | 4-2

W vs. North Carolina

Wisconsin continued the trend of scoring early in games, putting up three runs in the first inning versus UNC. Sirdashney drew a leado walk before Kayla Konwent homered to dead center, putting the Badgers up 2-0. Center fielder Molly Schlosser, who’d been fairly quiet at the plate, extended the lead with an RBI triple.

Paytn Monticelli, at her absolute best, dominated in the circle for Wisconsin. In a 120-pitch complete game the freshman yielded four hits and two unearned runs — a sixth-inning home run followed an Ellie Hubbard error. Monticelli’s 13 strikeouts was the highest singlegame total for a Badger pitcher since 2012.

Wisconsin bested UNC despite losing the baserunning battle — the Badgers went 0-for-3 in stolen-base attempts, while the Tar Heels stole three bags on four attempts. Luckily, Monticelli was too untouchable for UNC to drive in those runners.

Saturday | 5-4 W vs. North Carolina

The second tilt against the Tar Heels started exactly like the first: Sirdashney got aboard and Konwent followed with a two-run shot, her third home run of the season.

Left fielder Peyton Bannon made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Badgers added another two runs in the seventh on a Sirdashney RBI double and a Keller sacrifice fly. Monticelli, back in the circle after her Friday masterpiece, wasn’t missing as many bats but still got through 6.2 scoreless innings. One out from being shut out, however, the Tar Heels started teeing o . A single, double, single and triple later, Monticelli was done and Tessa Magnanimo entered with a 5-3 lead.

Magnanimo couldn’t get the job done, either, allowing a walk and an RBI single. With the tying run on second, Wisconsin handed the ball to Schwartz, who induced a groundout and secured the 5-4 victory.

Saturday | 3-2 W

vs. Villanova

The Badgers trailed for the first time all weekend when Schwartz allowed a second-inning run. Keller tied it in the third, driving in shortstop Ellie Hubbard as Hubbard had reached second on her first extra-base hit of the season.

Villanova chased Schwartz with two hits and a run to begin the fourth inning. In three-plus innings she allowed six hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts on 57 pitches.

Gabi Salo entered and posted the best performance of her career. The junior, who totaled just 16 innings with unremarkable results from 2021-22, pitched four hitless, scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Salo now boasts a 0.75 ERA through 9.1 innings this season and has proven her worth as a valuable relief option and spot starter. Salo’s stellar relief work set the stage for a Badger victory. Ava

Kuszak walked and reached third, setting up Sirdashney for a walk-o RBI bunt.

Continued improvement

The 2022 Badgers were a very flawed team, with a shallow lineup that didn’t put enough balls in play and, conversely, a pitching sta too prone to contact.

Through 12 games, Wisconsin has shown signs of considerable improvement in those areas. Ku el has slashed .333/.429/.722 with two home runs and six RBI in the cleanup spot, forcing pitchers to attack Konwent. Unsurprisingly, they’re having little luck, as Konwent has a 1.068 OPS with three home runs and nine RBI.

Whereas in 2022 the Badgers used Konwent as a leado hitter, they now slot her in the three-hole. This is now possible thanks to the arrival of Keller (.429 on-base percentage) and the elevation of Sirdashney to the leado spot. Sirdashney went 4-for-13 in her first weekend atop Wisconsin’s order and is having her best season to date, shattering previous career-highs with a .306/.375/.417 slash line.

As a whole, Wisconsin’s lineup is finding various ways to drive baserunners home. In Boca Raton, the Badgers scored twice on sacrifice flies and twice on sacrifice bunts — including Sirdashney’s game-winner.

Wisconsin is still striking out a lot — third-most in the Big Ten with 71 punchouts thus far — but that’s less concerning as long as the Badgers manufacture runs this e ectively.

While the lineup develops its identity, Wisconsin’s pitching sta remains a massive strength, ranking third in the conference with a team ERA of 1.89. After finishing 13th in strikeouts last season, the Badgers’ middle-ofthe-pack ranking through 12 games is certainly encouraging. And, as long as Monticelli keeps logging innings, Wisconsin will enjoy a steady stream of strikeouts.

If Salo continues to shine, she may become a legitimate contributor alongside Schwartz and Monticelli, maybe pushing Magnanimo further down the depth chart.

The Badgers now head to Bloomington, Indiana for five games this weekend, starting Saturday. They’ll face UW-Green Bay, Indiana University-Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne and Indiana University.

Wisconsin buries Minnesota State, secure spot in WCHA Finals

By Maddie Sacks STAFF WRITER

The Wisconsin Women’s Hockey team (25-9-2) showed up and showed out against the Minnesota State Mavericks (1520-1) in game two of the WCHA playo s, winning 4-1.

After a nerve-wracking start for Badger fans, in which Wisconsin lost the first period, they ultimately pulled through and secured a spot in the finals.

The first period was played pretty evenly, but the Badgers got more looks on goal. The Mavericks fumbled a huge opportunity about two minutes into the period, as a shot flew just above the net.

With two minutes left in the period, Minnesota State struck first. Sydney Langseth shot the goal from just in front of the net. The Badgers then went on a power play, but were unable to capitalize. The period ended 1-0 MSU.

In the second, Wisconsin maintained a significant advantage in shots on goal, nearly doubling the Mavericks. Finally, Wisconsin was able to get a shot to fall.

Britta Curl scored the first goal to tie up the game with 10:31 left in the period. Jesse Compher fired the puck at the Mavericks’ goalie Alexa Berg. A diving Curl swatted the deflec- tion in to tie it at 1-1.

Just over a minute later, Laila Edwards took the lead for the Badgers. She scored an incredible wrap-around goal that sent the puck through the Berg’s legs and deflected o the far-side post to make it 2-1 Wisconsin.

Harvey then exchanged a roughing penalty with a Maverick and Sophie Shirley followed, committing a tripping penalty that resulted in a 3-on-4. Failing to capitalize on any of the penalties, the period ended 2-1 Wisconsin.

With under two minutes into the third period, Sarah Wozniewicz cushioned the Badger lead. The goal was scored after the puck appeared through heavy traffic in front of the goal. Wozniewicz demonstrated impressive patience, waiting for proper puck placement before shooting it in to push the lead to 3-1.

The Badgers absolutely smothered the Mavericks in the third period, culminating in another Lacey Eden on a power play. Eden skated two-on-two alongside Casey O’Brien who drew attention away from the puck, giving Eden a split second to shoot.

She capitalized and made the impressive shot to the right side of the goal, 4-1 Wisconsin. Frustrated, the Mavericks picked up a penalty for slashing, but the game ended at 4-1

Following the win, Wisconsin is headed to the finals to play against their biggest rival, the Minnesota Gophers. Despite the stakes for the Badgers, they are calm and collected heading into the most important weekend of the year.

“They’re a great team and I think we’ve had their number this year, but that doesn’t mean anything more, it’s a clean slate and a new season,” Edwards said in a statement.

Wisconsin will face the Minnesota Gophers at Ridder Arena on Friday at 5 p.m. for the WCHA Final Faceo