Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Ally Miklesh

Former Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) standout Ally Miklesh and the University of Wisconsin softball team ended top-ranked Oklahoma’s NCAA Division 1 record win streak Sunday, May 19, before the Badgers fell to Oklahoma in the second game of the Regional Finals Sunday in Norman, Okla.

A freshman center fielder, Miklesh made her NCAA Tournament debut as Wisconsin opened the double-elimination Norman Regional against Notre Dame Friday, May 17.

The Badgers led 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, when Miklesh fielded a ball in shallow center field and threw out a runner at the plate to preserve the 1-0 lead.

Wisconsin carried its 1-0 lead into the top of the seventh inning, when Miklesh singled with two outs, and came around to score on a three-run home run that gave the team a 4-0 lead.

Notre Dame pulled to within 4-2 and had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, when a pop-up to second base closed out the Badgers’ 4-2 win, as Miklesh went 1-for-3 with one run scored.

Wisconsin followed with a 4-0 loss to Oklahoma Saturday, May 18, as Miklesh went 0-for-1 with a walk, and Oklahoma First Team All-American junior pitcher Giselle Juarez threw a no-hitter to extend the team’s win streak to 41 games.

The Badgers faced Notre Dame again Saturday night in an elimination game and trailed 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, when they had a RBI double to pull within 4-1, and Miklesh reached on an error with one out to score a run and make it 4-2.

One out later, Wisconsin senior Stephanie Lombardo belted a three-run home run to left-center field to give the Badgers a walk-off, 5-4 victory.

That sent Wisconsin to the Regional Finals Sunday, where it needed to win twice against Oklahoma to advance to the Super Regionals.

Oklahoma led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead, which it remained into the top of the sixth inning, when Wisconsin scored a run on a squeeze bunt to tie the game at 1-1, then followed with another squeeze bunt to take a 2-1 lead.

The Badgers went on to close out a 2-1 victory to snap Oklahoma’s win streak and force a second Championship Game Sunday, as Miklesh went 1-for-3 in the win.

In the second game, Oklahoma (52-3) scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, then added a solo home run in the fourth inning and went on to a 2-0 win to advance to the Super Regionals, as Wisconsin was limited to four hits in the loss and ended its season at 43-14, which was the second most wins in program history.

Miklesh started in all 55 games she played as a freshman for the Badgers this season, as she finished fifth on the team with a .257 batting average, and fourth on the team with 30 runs scored.