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Tough stretch for Lady Bulldogs
Bray rounds third
Hailey Bray is congratulated by Coach Russ Atkinson as she rounds third on her first home run of the season, scored during the recent game against Iowa-Grant. - photo by Jason Nihles/The Platteville Journal

On the heels of their big double-header sweep of Mineral Point on Monday, April 25, the Lady Bulldogs hit a tough three game stretch resulting in their longest losing streak of the season.

Vs. Iowa-Grant

On a cold and damp Thursday, April 28 the Bulldogs traveled to Cobb for a rematch with the Iowa Grant Panthers, whom Boscobel had beaten on opening day back on April 4, 3-2 in come-from-behind fashion. On this day, a couple of key defensive lapses and timely hitting by the Panthers resulted in a 7-4 loss for the Bulldogs.

Boscobel fell behind early when Iowa Grant’s Stevens hit a homerun in the first. A costly error allowed the Panthers to take a 2-0 lead through three innings.

Boscobel battled back in the top of the fourth. Olivia Grassel doubled to open the frame, and one out later Jayden Molzof drew a walk. Junior Hailey Bray then blasted her first homerun of the season to right-center, giving Boscobel a 3-2 lead.

Unfortunately, the defense let the Bulldogs down, as two errors in the bottom of the fourth gave the Panthers back the lead.

In the top of the sixth, trailing 6-3, the Bulldogs mounted a rally. Leah Wacker singled with one out and Molzof followed with a walk. One out later, Sydney Williams walked to load the bases, and Alyssa Davis walked to force in Wacker. However the inning ended with the bases loaded.

Iowa Grant pushed across another run, again aided by a Bulldog error, to make the final score 7-4.

The loss put Boscobel at 6-3 in the Conference and 8-4 overall.

Hosting Platteville

Friday night, April 29, saw a red-hot Platteville team sporting a 10-1 record come to town.

The Hillmen wasted no time jumping on top of the Bulldogs. Platteville put up four in the first, three in the second and five more in the third, building an 12-2 lead through four innings and finishing the game off in the fifth inning with five more runs, making the final 17-2. Along the way, Platteville banged out 15 hits and belted three homeruns.

The Bulldogs picked up one run in the first. Emily Johnson walked to start the inning and advanced to third on singles by Allie Pickett and Olivia Grassel. Johnson then scored on a sacrifice fly by Hailey Bray, but two strikeouts ended the threat.

Boscobel’s other run came in the fifth as Hailey Bray homered for the second time in as many games.

The Bulldogs non-conference record is now even at 2-2, and the team fell to 8-5 overall.

Vs. Southwestern

On Monday, May 2, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Hazel Green to take on the Southwestern Wildcats.

Boscobel jumped out early, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first. Olivia Grassel led off with a walk, but two outs later was still at first base. With two strikes on Hailey Bray, Grassel stole second. Bray then made it count with a bouncing single up the middle to score Grassel from second base.

In the bottom of the third, the Bulldog defense struggled as Southwestern was able to beat out a pair of infield hits and two errors helped the Wildcats put up three runs.

The Bulldogs scored a single run in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Grassel walked. An infield hit by Emily Johnson and a misplayed pop up by Leah Wacker loaded the bases. Bray then drew a walk, scoring Grassel, but the threat ended with no more runs and the score 3-2, Southwestern.

A big two-out hit picked up another run for the Wildcats in the bottom of the fifth.

Boscobel was able to get a pair of runners on in the sixth on a single by Sydney Williams and a walk to Danielle Ernst, but was unable to push across a run.

Two errors in the sixth allowed the Wildcats to pull away, making the score 6-2, with the Bulldogs unable to rally in the top of the seventh.

The loss dropped Boscobel to 6-4 in SWAL play and 8-6 overall. Southwestern continued its grip on the SWAL, improving to 9-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall.

Despite the tough losses, the young team continues to battle and is exciting to watch.

The Lady Bulldogs will look to get back on track Thursday night as they host the Chieftains from Riverdale. The team then travels to De Soto on Friday night.