GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay softball team (13-19) traveled to Madison, Wis., today for a doubleheader against the only other division one softball program in the state, the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers bested the Phoenix in game one 6-2. Green Bay responded well in the second game, posting a season-high 15 runs to defeat the Badgers and finish the day with a victory.
Wisconsin 6, Green Bay 2
The Badgers broke the game open in the first inning by posting two runs after a double from Van Zeeland that scored Miller from second and a single from Tancill that brought home Mersch from third.
The Phoenix wasted no time responding to the Badgers' 2-0 advantage, scoring a run in the top of the second after Ashley Baker singled to left field to bring home Allie Taylor from second base.
Green Bay would go on to post a run in the following inning to knot things up at two runs apiece off of a Miranda Spangberg single that scored Hailey Mohrfeld, who reached on an infield single earlier in the inning.
From that point on it was all Wisconsin, as the Badgers went on to add one run in the bottom of the second, one run in the bottom of the fifth and two runs in the bottom of the sixth to defeat Green Bay 6-2 in game one.
Heather Sanderson spent five innings in the circle against the tough Big Ten lineup, allowing 13 hits, six runs (five earned) and striking out two batters.
Green Bay 15, Wisconsin 2
Like the first game, Wisconsin was on the board first after scoring one run in the first inning from a Miller single that brought Jenkins around from second.
The Phoenix immediately responded to the Wisconsin advantage, getting things started with a Jaclyn Delagrange base hit up the middle in the top of the second. Alyssa Johnson was the next Phoenix to step up to the plate, with Johnson drawing a walk to put her on first and advance Delagrange to second. Once on second, Alexis Otto entered the game for Green Bay to pinch run for Delagrange at second. Taylor then provided Green Bay with a quality at-bat, belting one into right field for an RBI double that scored Otto and advanced Johnson to third. Kelli Hutchinson followed the RBI double with a bullet to the first baseman that was too much to handle, resulting in Hutchinson being safe at first and Johnson scoring from third.
Wisconsin would then seem to take control of the game in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs off of three hits and a Phoenix error to regain the 5-2 advantage heading into the third inning of play.
In the third inning, Green Bay would once again show its resilience and tie thing up at five runs apiece. The first run of the three-run inning came from a Spangberg single to the shortstop that scored Abby Brinkmeier from third. The next two Phoenix runs came from one swing of the bat from Taylor, who provided Green Bay with a two RBI double that cleared the bases.
The Phoenix would continue to slug it out with the Badgers, as Wisconsin and Green Bay would each add one run in the fourth inning to show no sign of either team's offense slowing down. However, the game would start to unravel for the Badgers in the top of the fifth inning, as Green Bay would add three runs off of two RBI singles from Katelyn Huemmer and Spangberg, and a fielder's choice RBI for Brinkmeier.
The Badgers added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to keep things interesting and lower the Green Bay advantage to one run. However, Green Bay completely broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning, scoring six runs to lead the Badgers by seven with 1.5 innings to play. The six-run inning was highlighted by a Spangberg grand slam that saw Huemmer, Brinkmeier and Hailee Frey touch home.
The Phoenix would only allow a single run the remainder of the contest, sealing a 15-9 victory in game two of the twinbill.
Hailey McDermott and Alexis LeCalsey combined for three innings in the circle, allowed 10 hits, seven runs (six earned) and fanned three batters. Briana Cavin pitched the final four innings of game two, giving up five hits, two runs and collecting two strike outs of her own.
Spangberg finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs and a grand slam for the Phoenix.
“We came ready to play today,” said head coach Beth Spoehr. “I was proud of the focus our team brought to the diamond this afternoon. We competed for every out in every inning, and that's all I can ask for.”
Green Bay returns to action this weekend, traveling to Rochester, Mich., to take on the league-leading Oakland Golden Grizzlies in a three-game Horizon League series.
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