RHINELANDER, WISC. - After their opening day was pushed back a day - extending the time between games to 374 days - the Madison College softball team officially began the 2021 season with a pair of wins inside the Hodag Dome on Tuesday. The WolfPack, ranked #16 in the latest NJCAA Division II Poll, began the day with an 8-0 blanking of Lake Region State College (ND), and followed with an 11-3 defeat of Bay College (MI).

Game #1: #16 Madison College 8, Lake Region State College 0 (5 innings)

Madison College jumped on the board first with a run in the opening inning against the Royals. Sophomore Abby Luczak hit a two-out single through the left side to score Katie Joten from third. The WolfPack expanded their lead in the fourth with one swing of Maddie Kvatek's bat. The freshman from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, ripped a 1-0 pitch over the right field fence with Alisia Palms on third for a two-run blast that made it 3-0.

Playing as the home team, the 'Pack picked up a five-inning run-ruled victory with a five-spot in the fifth inning that. Joten opened with a triple to right and scored when first year outfielder Brianna Brandner doubled to left. The Portage, Wisconsin, native eventually touched home on a grounder to short by Grace Madeiros. Two batters later, and with runners on second and third, second year Megan Miklesh crushed 1-1 offering to deep center for a three-run walk-off homer.

While the offense racked up eight runs, the Madison College pitchers were working on the season's first shutout. Starter Mallory Sterling (1-0) earned her second career win with a four-inning, one-hit performance that saw the righthander strike out five and walk one. Freshman Lauren Steien hurled the final inning with a walk and a K.

All but one of the WolfPack's eight hits went for extra bases, led by Kvatek's double and first career home run as she went 2 for 2 with two RBI and a run scored. Brandner was 2 for 3 with a triple and a double to produce a run score and one driven in. Luczak, a former Laconia HS athlete, also registered two hits, a run, and a RBI. Joten paced the 'Pack with two runs scored on a hit and a walk, while Miklesh drove in a team-leading three runs with her game-ending blast that also marked a collegiate first.

Madison College is now 4-0 all-time against Lake Region State College.

Game #2: #16 Madison College 11, Bay College 3 (6 innings)

The day's second game was highlighted by the work of Casey Fountain (1-0) in the pitcher's circle. The freshman struck out nine Norse batters in four innings to secure a win in her collegiate debut. The righthander surrendered just two earned run on two hits. Sophomore came on for the final two innings and was credited with an earned run, one hit, and a strikeout.

Meanwhile, Maddie Kvatek continued to show her powerful bat with a second inning lead off home run that answer a lead off shot against Fountain in the top half of the frame. A second lead off home run in the fourth for Bay College put the WolfPack behind for the first time this season at 2-1, though it was short-lived. Bella Williams, a freshman from Menasha, Wisconsin, singled in Kvatek, who opened the fourth with a single to right. Fountain then helped her own cause with a run-scoring single on the left side to give the 'Pack the lead for good at 3-2. The next batter, Katherine Brandl, pushed it to 5-2 differential by driving in Williams and Fountain with a line drive double to left.

Four more runs in the fifth extended the differential to 9-2. Three walks and a hit by pitch forced in the first two runs before Mia Noelker, a freshman infielder from Overland Park, Kansas, hit a RBI single, and Katie Joten touched home on a passed ball. Despite a Bay College run in the sixth, Madison College tallied two more with Alisia Palms' two-run double that ended the game in a run-rule.

Kvatek, whose second career home run was part of a 2 for 2 effort, drove in a three runs and scored another. Through two games, she is batting 1.000 (4 for 4) with four runs scored and three batted in. Brandner matched Kvatek with three runs scored as part of her 2 for 2 performance with a walk. Fountain also finished 2 for 2 with a run and a RBI.

The win came in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. 

Up Next:

Madison College (2-0) will meet the same two teams again at the Hodag Dome in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, March 17. First pitch against Lake Region State College (3-5) is set for 11:30 p.m., followed by a 1:30 p.m. start against Bay College (2-11).

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