Badgers wait out rain, out-run Hawkeyes for series sweep
By Simon Farber | Apr. 7, 2019Two hours of rain delays weren’t enough to keep the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers from earning a series sweep over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Two hours of rain delays weren’t enough to keep the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers from earning a series sweep over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Caroline Hedgcock stepped into the box with confidence. She looked for her pitch, hoping to drive in the two runners on base and break the game open for the Badgers.
After graduating five seniors from a team that produced a respectable 29-23 record in 2018, Wisconsin softball head coach Yvette Healy came into the season with an optimism that suggested more was yet to come from the Badgers.
Where has this been all year? With the postseason right around the corner, Wisconsin softball (9-8 Big Ten, 25-19 overall) churned out their best series of the season, stunning Nebraska (8-11, 30-20) with a three-game sweep in Lincoln.
Wisconsin (6-6 Big Ten, 21-17 overall) climbed back to .500 in conference play with a series win against Purdue (4-10, 13-34) this weekend at Goodman Diamond.
The Wisconsin Badgers (4-5 Big Ten, 20-16 overall) stretched their win streak to four with two wins over conference rival Illinois (6-6, 25-13) last Thursday.
When it comes to summertime in the Midwest, days are filled with tubing, sitting on a beach, boating on the countless lakes and for many, working.
The Badgers (2-5 Big Ten, 18-16 overall) got back on track Wednesday at Goodman Diamond with two blowout victories over Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-4, 7-23), 8-0 and 10-2.
With a doubleheader set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday against conference rival Iowa, the Wisconsin women’s softball team (2-2 Big Ten, 16-13 overall ) will look to take care of business despite its recent struggles.
Wisconsin (2-2 Big Ten, 16-13 overall) struggled against No. 24 Ohio State (2-4, 21-8) in its first conference series of the year, dropping two games of three against the Buckeyes in Columbus.
Wisconsin (1-0 Big Ten, 15-11 overall) continued its success at home this season with a 6-2 victory over University of Northern Iowa (1-3 Missouri Valley Conference, 16-13) on Tuesday.
Weather was the main factor for the weekend series between the Wisconsin Badgers softball team (1-0 Big Ten, 14-11 overall) and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-1, 15-15) as temperatures hovered below 29 degrees on Friday, Saturday delaying the series first game until Sunday, when the weather took a fortuitous turn and peaked above the coveted 29-degree mark.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ (13-11) trip to Tuscon, Az. for the Wildcat Invitational was a microcosm of their season so far: flashes of elite play mixed in with stretches of costly mistakes as Wisconsin took on tough competition in Tuscon, leaving the tournament with two wins and three losses. Game one came against undefeated No. 24 USC Upstate (18-0). Wisconsin handed the Spartans their first loss of the year behind stellar pitching from sophomore Kaitlyn Menz.
Led by senior shortstop Brooke Wyderski’s red-hot bat, Wisconsin (11-8) took care of business over the weekend at the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.
Wisconsin softball (7-7) had an up-and-down weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif, going 3-3 against a tough slate of opponents.
This weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers (4-4) will be competing in the the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. UW will start out the tournament by taking on the Auburn Tigers and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Thursday before taking on the Fresno State Bulldogs on Friday.
Coming off a 28-24 season in 2016 and a second consecutive year without an NCAA tournament appearance, the outside expectations for Wisconsin’s softball team were moderate coming into the 2017 season.
Team captain and star senior catcher Chloe Miller was selected 11th overall in the 2017 National Pro Fastpitch Draft Monday night.
After a thrilling finish Friday night that saw the Badgers walk off in extra innings, Wisconsin (7-9 Big Ten, 28-11 overall) struggled to keep up with No. 19 Michigan (13-3, 33-10-1) in game two of the weekend series, dropping the contest 10-2 in five innings. Wisconsin came out of the gate hot and put pressure on the Wolverines early.
Entering the eighth inning of Friday’s thriller against No. 19 Michigan (12-3 Big Ten, 32-10-1 overall), the Badgers (7-8, 28-10) faced a challenge all too familiar.