ROSEMONT, ILL. - After a pair of impressive wins over ranked teams to begin the 2020 season on Thursday, the Madison College softball team kept right on taking care of business Friday and Saturday as they earned six more victories to finish 8-0 at the N4C Dome Jamboree (full results). The lone competitive game was a dramatic 2-1 victory in eight innings over Triton College on Friday, while the other five games ended in five-inning run-rule decisions in favor of the #11-ranked WolfPack: 16-0 vs. Milwaukee Area Technical College, 13-2 vs. College of DuPage, 13-1 vs. Harper College, 15-4 vs. Elgin Community College, and 13-4 vs. Bryant & Stratton College. Madison College holds a one-game lead atop the North Central Community College Conference standings with a 6-0 record, sitting ahead of second place Triton College at 5-1 and third place Rock Valley College at 4-2.

Game #3 (Friday): #11 Madison College 16, Milwaukee Area Technical College 0 (5 innings)

The WolfPack established a season-high for runs in a lopsided victory over their in-state rival, while also recording the season's first shutout. Madison College tallied four runs in the first inning on two hits, a walk, and three Stormers (0-1) errors, with sophomore Brianna Farrington's two-run single highlighting the inning. Freshman Mallory Sterling made it 5-0 in the second with double to deep right that plated Madison Brickson. The game broke open in the third when the 'Pack posted a season-best ten-run inning that included seven hits and three errors. Farrington, and freshmen Kaycie Wagner, Carly Nice, and Emma Wein each had a RBI base hit as the lead increased to 11-0. With the bases loaded and still nobody out, Farrington's second plate appearance of the inning resulted in a bases-clearing error that also allowed Farrington to race around and score to extend the advantage to 15-0. The game's final run also came via a race around the bases, only this time Wein's inside-the-park home run did not include an error.

Sophomore Cathryn Hiller (1-0) picked up her first win of the season by holding MATC-Milwaukee scoreless over five innings and limiting the Stormers to two hits and a walk. The Random Lake, Wisconsin, native struckout a career-high eight batters.

Brickson, a first year shortstop from Stoughton, Wisconsin, went 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Five others also enjoyed multiple hits as part of a season-high 15 hits total for the WolfPack. Wein, Sterling, Kylle Hraban, Farrington, and Nice all had two hits, with Farrington, a former Columbus High School athlete, matching Brickson's three runs scored and setting a career-best mark with six runs batted in. Wein, a native of Platteville, Wisconsin, registered three RBI and two runs scored. 

Madison College is now 18-11 all-time against Milwaukee Area Technical College and owns an 11-game win streak that includes seven victories since the series picked up again in 2017 after an 18-year hiatus.

Game #4 (Friday): #11 Madison College 3, Triton College 2 (8 innings)

Madison College had its hands full with N4C opponent and fellow NJCAA Division II foe Triton College. Neither team was able to score through the first four innings before both broke through in the fifth. The Trojans struck first, using a leadoff triple to produce a run on a error by first baseman Abby Luczak two batters later. Madison College countered in the home half with a leadoff double from freshman Megan Miklesh, who eventually tied the score at 1-1 by racing home on a passed ball. Madison College had an opportunity to grab the lead in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, but was unable to score. Playing International Tie Breaker rules in extra innings, both teams began their half innings with a runner on second base. Triton College (4-1, 2-1) was able to fill the base paths and push across one run on a two-out single against sophomore Jordan Martin. But the WolfPack answered in the bottom half, which started with Callie Schnitger starting on second base. Back-to-back singles by Sabrina Reuter and Katherine Brandl evened the score at 2-2, and Reuter later scored the walk-off run on an error by the catcher as part of a double steal.

Brandl paced the WolfPack offense with two of the team's six hits and the lone RBI. The former Fort Atkinson High School athlete also had a stolen base in the win. Miklesh and Reuter had a hit and a run scored.

Martin, a sophomore from Hortonville, Wisconsin, went the distance for her second win in as many starts. The righthander allowed one unearned run on three hits and three walks over her eight innings of work. Martin struck out 13 batters, one shy of her career-best 14 from the 2019 season.

Madison College is 23-11 all-time against Triton College, having won four straight and 19 of the last 25 dating back to the 2012 season.

Game #5 (Friday): #11 Madison College 13, College of DuPage 3 (5 innings)

The finale on Day Two saw the WolfPack fall behind early as an error by first baseman Anna Manke led to a two-run double for the College of DuPage (0-3, 0-3) in the first inning. Madison College responded with five runs on two hits and four walks in the bottom of the first. Manke made up for the error with a run-scoring single to get the 'Pack on the board, while the next three runs came in as a result of free passes and a passed ball. Brianna Farrington brought Megan Miklesh on a sacrifice fly to cap the inning. Freshman Olivia Bobak added to the lead in the second with a solo home run to left for first of her career. Two more runs in the third made it 8-2, with sophomore Morgan Dercola picking up an RBI on a two-bagger to center that plated Callie Schnitger. The WolfPack tacked on five more runs in the fourth, which included a RBI single by Kaycie Wagner.

Overall the WolfPack had six hits, ten walks, and one hit by pitch. Bobak, a product of Monroe, Wisconsin, was 2 for 2 with two runs scored and one batted in. Schnitger, who hails from Jefferson, Wisconsin, had two runs scored and one RBI on her lone hit, while Dercola and Wagner both had a hit, two runs driven in, and a run scored.

Freshman Lauren Green (1-0) made her second appearance of the season and her first career start, tossing four innings en route to her first win.The righthander from Cumberland, who earned a save in her collegiate debut on Thursday against Jolie Junior College, allowed two runs, one of which was earned, on three hits and struck out four. Bobak worked the fifth inning in relief and went 1-2-3 with a strikeout.

The College of DuPage still owns a 25-17 all-time lead against Madison College, which has won eight of the last nine meetings.

Game #6 (Saturday): #11 Madison College 13, Harper College 1 (5 innings)

In its final N4C game of the weekend, Madison College jumped all over the Hawks in the opener on Saturday, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. Freshman Gracie Malin led off the game with an inside-the-park home run, first years Megan Miklesh and Callie Schnitger each drove in two with a base hit, and sophomore Paige Hintz stole home to make it 6-0. The second inning saw Katherine Brandl and Olivia Bobak hit a double and triple in succession, and then Bobak pulled off a second successful steal of home for an 8-0 advantage. Second year first baseman Anna Manke pounded her first home run of the season with a two-run blast to right in the third to increase the lead to 11-0. A two-RBI double in the fourth from Brianna Farrington pushed it to 13-0 before the Hawks broke through for their lone run in the fifth.

Malin, Brandl, and Hraban each had two hits, with Brandl and Hraban tying for the team-lead in runs scored with two. Manke, courtesy of her first career home run, matched Miklesh, Farrington, and Schnitger with two runs batted in. Of the WolfPack's 12 hits, seven went for extra bases.

Emma Wein (1-0) made her collegiate pitching debut and went five innings with seven strikeouts. The righthander surrendered one unearned run, two hits, and one base on ball.

Madison College improves to 26-12-1 in the head-to-head series with Harper College (0-3, 0-3), with wins in 15 straight games.

Game #7 (Saturday): #11 Madison College 15, Elgin Community College 4 (5 innings)

The first non-conference game of the season saw the WolfPack run up 13 hits and take advantage of six Elgin Community College (1-3) errors. Madison College took a 2-0 lead in the first that included a run-scoring double by Abby Luczak. The Spartans evened the score in the home half against starter Mallory Sterling, who was then given a four-run cushion thank to consecutive two-RBI single by Katherine Brandl and Luczak. Despite two more runs by ECC in the bottom of the second, it was all WolfPack from then on with four runs in the third to make it 10-4. Madison College added one run in the fourth and four in the fifth to cap the scoring. Brandl, Luczak, Morgan Dercola, and Sterling each drove in a run in the final inning.

Brandl finished a monster game with two hits, four run scored, and four batted in, while Luczak, a native of Rosendale, Wisconsin, had three hits and four RBI. Malin joined Luczak in going 3 for 4 at the plate, and scored three runs. Sophomore Irene Tomasovic crossed home three times despite not having a single hit.

Sterling displayed her versatility with a 2 for 4 effort at the plate that produced a run and a RBI. The Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, native also earned her first collegiate pitching win with a five-inning performance that yielded four earned runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out five batters.

The win marked the first in three all-time meetings with Elgin Community College. 

Game #8 (Saturday): #11 Madison College 13, Bryant & Stratton College 4 (5 innings)

The weekend finale against in-state foe Bryant & Stratton College came down to a monster fourth inning for Madison College. Leading 4-2, Sabrina Reuter singled in Paige Hintz, which was followed by a line drive double up the middle by Katherine Brandl the plated Irene Tomasovic, Gracie Malin, and Reuter. The score improved to 10-2 when Abby Luczak tripled to the wall in center to drive in a couple more runs before Anna Manke's grounder back up the middle was good enough for Luczak and Hintz to race in. 

Madison College set a new season-high with 17 hits as a dozen different players each had a hit in the game. Malin, a native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was tops with three hits and three runs scored. Brandl tallied two hits, three RBI, and a run scored. Luczak was 2 for 3, scoring two runs, and driving in two more.

Olivia Bobak (2-0) got the start in the circle and pitched to a second win this season. She allowed three hits, four runs, six walks, and struck out one batter in 3 1/3 innings of work. Jordan Martin entered in relief for the final 1 2/3 innings, holding the Spartans scoreless on a hit and a walk, while also turning away four batters via strikeout. 

Madison College has won all seven meetings against the Bobcats (0-1), who started playing softball in 2018.

Up Next:

Madison College (8-0) will leave Wednesday, March 11 for their annual Florida Spring Trip, which will feature 12 games in seven days starting with NJCAA Division I Marshalltown Community College (IA/3-5) on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. CST at Hancock Park in Clermont, Florida. The WolfPack will also play games in Titusville, Florida, and Kissimmee, Florida.

Follow WolfPack softball: Facebook | Twitter