Fresh off five straight wins, Northwestern softball (25-18, 9-7 Big Ten) dropped both games of a doubleheader against Wisconsin (35-9, 12-5) on Wednesday in Madison.
Pitchers Amy Letourneau and Meghan Lamberth gave up just three and five hits, respectively, in six innings of action, but they both came away with losses. Senior center fielder and leadoff hitter Kristin Scharkey registered two hits on the day, the only Wildcat with more than one.
The first of the two games was a 3-1 pitching duel. Scharkey led off the first game with a triple and was driven in by junior left fielder Mari Majam, but that run was quickly answered with two from the Badgers in the bottom of the first. From then on, Letourneau and Wisconsin pitcher Cassandra Darrah took over. The only other run came off a solo home run from Wisconsin’s Michelle Mueller.
Another game quickly followed, and it became a similar story. The ‘Cats started strong and went up 2-0 in the top of the first, but the Badgers came storming back. Whitney Massey and Mueller each cranked two-run homers for Wisconsin in consecutive innings to take back the lead, and Northwestern couldn’t respond. The Wildcats only had one hit in the final four innings and lost 4-2.
The Wildcats will head home to take on Purdue in a three-game series starting Friday.