Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Purdue in the series finale, Wisconsin (4-4-1 Big Ten, 19-16-1 overall) heads on the road to No. 22 Minnesota (8-1, 27-10) for a doubleheader Tuesday.
Weather was again a factor in the Purdue series, causing the postponement of Friday’s game and forcing a Saturday doubleheader. UW swung a hot bat in game one, recording runs in all but two innings, and featured a five-run fourth inning en route to a 9-5 win.
Purdue controlled much of game two. UW scored three runs and had the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Purdue was able to shut down the rally and defeat the Badgers 5-4.
Sunday’s finale looked to be a historically good game for the Badgers. Senior pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Stewart lost the no-hitter, surrendering a leadoff triple, and then the game when Purdue’s Katie Harrison hit the go-ahead two-run home run that gave the Boilermakers the 3-2 win.
Regardless of last weekend’s result, the Badgers are excited for their matchup with Minnesota.
“This is actually one of my favorite games to play because one of my best friends [Minnesota sophomore Sydney Dwyer] I grew up playing with since I was eight plays on the team,” junior Chloe Miller told The Daily Cardinal. “I have visited her a couple times and having done that I have met a bunch of Minnesota softball players and so it’s kind of become—it’s obviously a huge rivalry and on the field, we don’t like them, they don’t like us, but it’s kind of the underlying ‘I’m going to beat you because I know you, I want to show you I’m better than you,’ but it’s kind of that back and forth, it just makes it more fun. That’s really exciting for me.”
Big Ten leader Minnesota swept Illinois in a three-game series last weekend, outscoring the Fighting Illini 25-7. Freshman Maddie Houlihan won her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award. Houlihan hit .556 and drove in five RBIs, including a home run, in the Illinois series. Minnesota enters Tuesday’s doubleheader with an undefeated record at home.
Head coach Yvette Healy knows her team is in for a battle, but believes UW could surprise the Gophers.
“You’re facing Minnesota, who is one of the top ten teams in the country, I think you just work on staying the course, we just try and do all the little things right, of good defense, contain their hitters and for the pitchers to give us a chance to win the game late,” Healy said. “Minnesota is going to be tough, but I think if you’ve got the ability to stick with them, you could go up there and steal a game from a really good opponent on their field and that’s what you try to do.”
Miller knows her team will be ready to battle.
“I think we’re all pretty excited and I think coming off such an emotional loss against Purdue that we’re going to try to take all those feeling and everything coming off that game, we’re going to try and take it into Minnesota and kind of use it to fuel the fire,” Miller said.
Game one of the doubleheader begins at 4 p.m. and game two is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Jake Powers contributed to this report.
