After spending more than half of the season on the road, the Wisconsin softball team finally comes home for the first time this weekend with a series against conference rival Northwestern.
The Badgers (13-10, 2-1 Big Ten) and Wildcats square off in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m. before meeting again on Sunday at 2 p.m., all at Goodman Diamond just off of the UW campus.
Wisconsin got the Big Ten season started on a high note last weekend, winning the season series over Iowa two games to one. The Badgers won the first game of last Saturday’s doubleheader, 1-0, before giving up a two-run lead late in the second game to split the series at one game a piece going into Sunday’s meeting.
Sophomore starting pitcher Cassandra Darrah kept Iowa (11-17, 1-2) off of the scoreboard for most of the series finale until the sixth inning, when Katie Keim hit a three-run home run to put the Hawkeyes within 4-3. Junior Molly Spence then scored sophomore Mary Massei to give the Badgers an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Iowa scored another run to cut UW’s lead in half but that was as close as they would get, as Darrah made the final batter ground out with the bases loaded to win the game.
“That was a critical weekend for us, to put together some wins,” said head coach Yvette Healy in a recent press conference. “They weren’t pretty games, and they were all one-run games, but to come out with two wins is huge on the road.”
Massei also scored the lone run of the opening game and went 1-for-2 with 1 RBI in the loss. Freshman Maria Van Abel, who currently leads the Big Ten with her .455 batting average, was one of eight Badgers who scored at least one run over the weekend. Classmate Marissa Mersch finished Sunday’s game with 2 RBIs as one of four players who had at least one RBI in Iowa City. Darrah got the nod on the mound all weekend, pitching 20 total innings of work and three complete games, while improving her record to 9-5.
Although the Badgers’ 23-game road stand to start the season was cut short at times due to inclement weather, Healy says she’s learned a lot about her young squad, both on and off of the field.
“They are just a nice, hardworking group of athletes,” she said. “We’re looking for a little more grit, and we’re starting to get it.
“You see that they want to win, and they’re starting to put the time and the effort, and they’re really emotionally invested in it.”
Healy is hoping to see more of that from her team this weekend against Northwestern (11-17, 0-3), which was swept by conference newcomer Nebraska over the weekend. Despite losing all three games against the Huskers, the Wildcats kept it close, rallying to cut Nebraska’s lead to 7-6 in the second game. Northwestern as a team also scored more runs against the Huskers in the opening game (Nebraska won 9-6) than they allowed in their last seven games.
Sophomore Marisa Bast leads the Wildcats with her .434 batting average, while classmate Sammy Albanese leads the Northwestern pitchers with a 2.65 ERA. Darrah, meanwhile, leads the Badgers and is seventh among all conference pitchers with a 2.30 ERA.
Northwestern hosts city rival UIC on Wednesday afternoon before its series with the Badgers, who visit the Flames next week during Wisconsin’s spring break.
First pitch for Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 12 p.m., while Sunday’s game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the Badgers’ home games on 91.7 FM in Madison or at wsum.org. Sunday’s series finale will also be broadcast live on BTN.
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