It was agonizing, watching three Oregon pitchers struggle to find an out pitch as No. 7-seeded Wisconsin erupted for 11 hits and four home runs in an 11-9 pasting of the No. 9 Ducks at the Big Ten Tournament in College Park, Maryland Thursday afternoon.
Oregon’s normally reliable staff, including ace Lyndsey Grein, struggled to stay ahead of batters or finish them off. They threw 139 pitches, and what became most startling was Badger batters extending at-bats, fouling off third strikes or taking borderline pitches to see one more.
Just 14-10 in league play, the UW batters played like the ’27 Yankees in this single elimination quarterfinal. They led off three different innings with a home run. They drilled doubles down the line. The Ducks pressed a bit, and scored just one run over the last three innings of a tight game…