Northwestern was six outs away from winning its first Big Ten game, but three outs later it was Wisconsin who had the lead.
The Wildcats (19-10, 1-3 Big Ten) entered the bottom of the sixth with an 8-3 lead, but senior pitcher Jessica Smith unraveled, giving up four runs while only recording one out.. Freshman Sammy Albanese came on with the bases loaded and gave up two more runs to give the Badgers (20-15, 2-4) their first lead.
Things could not have started any better for the Cats. Smith was hitting her spots and the offense scored six runs in the first two innings. The first three batters scored all six runs, going 5-for-5 with a walk..
“In the beginning of the game we executed our game plan extremely well,” coach Kate Drohan said.
The sole NU mistake in those first two innings was a Shannel Blackshear rocket on the 16th pitch of her at-bat to put Wisconsin on the board. After the Cats picked up a run in the fourth inning, the Badgers hit another towering home run in the bottom of the inning to stay within five runs.
Holding a one-run lead in the top of the seventh, the Badgers intentionally walked junior first baseman Adrienne Monka with two outs to get to senior Michelle Batts, who flew out to end the inning and the game.
Albanese admitted NU lost its concentration.
“We kind of took our eyes off the prize for a split second, which is a split second too long,” she said.
Albanese led the charge in the second game of the doubleheader with her complete game three-hit shutout. Albanese struck out nine batters and kept the Badgers off guard for the entire game in the 2-0 win.
The second game was uglier than the first as neither team was able to muster much offensive firepower. The teams combined for eight hits and 11 walks, and both NU runners that scored reached by walk.
Drohan said she was actually grateful for the late change of plans that set up the doubleheader on Saturday, as the short time between the two games forced her team to forget about the mistakes of the first loss.
The Cats once again left large numbers of runners on base during the doubleheader. In the first game NU left five runners in scoring position while in the second it left the bases loaded three times.
“We just need to get hits,” Drohan said. “It starts with mentality and ends in execution.”
Sophomore shortstop Emily Allard got hits in both games to extend her hitting streak to 20 games, four games off of the program record of 24.
