Sports Covered: Softball, Lightweight Rowing, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball, Hockey
Softball
Wisconsin swept Penn State over the weekend, winning all three games in a dominant fashion, including two games in five innings. The sweep moves UW to second place in the Big Ten.
The Badgers won both games against PSU in Saturday’s doubleheader for the first time in 15 years. With the 4-1 win in game one, the 2012 Wisconsin Softball team became the fastest team in school history to win 25 games, doing so in only 38 appearances.
Wisconsin (27-13, 11-4 Big Ten) followed the record-setting win with an 8-0 (5) shutout against the Nittany Lions (13-26, 5-10) in game two.
Sophomore Mary Massei and junior Whitney Massey both went 2-for-3 in the first game, with Massei adding two runs and a walk. Sophomore and Big Ten co-Pitcher of the Week Cassandra Darrah struck out five in the win to improve to 17-7 in her 18th complete game of the season.
The Badger offense exploded in the fourth inning of the nightcap, scoring six runs on six hits and a PSU error to get the run-rule win. Massei recorded a run and 3 RBI while going 2-for-4 in game two, while classmate Stephanie Peace and junior Kendall Grimm each went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Peace also added two runs.
Junior Amanda Najdek improved her record to 5-1 on the mound, striking out two and only allowing two hits in 5.0 innings of work.
The Badgers finished the weekend with another run-rule win, shutting out PSU 9-0 (5) in Sunday’s series finale. Wisconsin scored four runs on two hits in just the first inning before posting another four-run set in the third inning. Massey went a perfect 2-for-2 (1 run, 1 RBI), while Grimm went 2-for-3 (2 runs, 1 RBI) and freshman Marissa Mersch added 2 RBI of her own. Darrah got the win and allowed only one run in 12 innings of work over the weekend.
Up next for Wisconsin is a doubleheader against Indiana State (18-26) on Wednesday at Goodman Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Lightweight Rowing
The second-ranked lightweight rowing team competed in Boston over the weekend in what could be a preview of the IRA National Championships in June.
The Badgers competed with five other top-10 teams in the Lightweight Women’s Invitational Regatta on Saturday along the Charles River. The varsity eight crew narrowly won its opening heat to qualify for the grand final, where it beat top-ranked and defending national champion Stanford by 0.8 seconds. The second varsity eight crew finished second in its grand final to No. 4 Harvard-Radcliffe.
Wisconsin faced the Cardinal in its final race of the regular season on Sunday. The rallying efforts came up short for both varsity eight boats, as Stanford won both races to take the regular-season series against the Badgers.
Wisconsin will use the next three weeks to prepare for its conference championships, the Eastern Sprints, held on May 13 in Cherry Hill, N.J. The Badgers will look to win their fifth-straight second varsity eight title and their sixth straight Konrad Ulbrich Trophy, given to the team with the best overall performance at the championships.
Tennis
Wisconsin went 1-1 in duals in the final weekend of the regular season. The Badgers beat Iowa, 5-2, on the road on Friday but had their senior day spoiled by No. 18 Nebraska in a 6-1 loss on Sunday.|
Junior Hannah Berner ended the regular season on a four-match winning streak, as she won twice over the weekend, both at the No. 2 singles spot. Her win against Nebraska’s Madeline Geibert gave the Badgers the only point of Sunday’s dual.
Wisconsin gained the doubles point against the Hawkeyes with wins by senior Alaina Trgovich & sophomore Nicky Stracar at No. 1 doubles and senior Angela Chupa & freshman Sarah Loebel at the No. 3 court. Senior Aleksandra Markovic registered her 100th career win on Friday at No. 6 singles.
The Badgers finish the regular season with a 12-11 record (3-8 Big Ten).
Trgovich, Chupa, Markovic, and Milwaukee native Lauren Gruber were honored before their final home matches at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Sunday.
The Badgers have earned the 10th seed in the 2012 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament, which starts on Thursday morning at Ohio State’s Varsity Tennis Center. Wisconsin will take on seventh-seed Indiana, which it upset last weekend in Madison.
Track and Field
The Badgers competed in a few places throughout the week, including the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
Senior Jessica Flax was one of many Badgers who had a career weekend. She led Wisconsin with a second-place finish in the heptathlon with 5,662 points – a mark that is now the highest in UW history and the highest in the Big Ten this season.
Junior Dorcas Akinniyi took 3rd (5,572) and sophomore Deanna Latham took 6th (5,451) in the event for Wisconsin. Latham’s mark, good for 12th in the nation, is a new career-high, while Akinniyi’s mark is good for seventh nationally.
Senior Jordan Helgren finished third in the triple jump at Mt. SAC (39 feet 2 ½ inches). Freshman Courtney Walden cleared a career-high 12 feet-1 ½ inches in the pole vault, good for seventh place and sixth in UW history.
Many of the Badger throwers competed a little closer to home at the Musco Twilight Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa.
Freshman Kelsey Card continued her dominance there, breaking the school record in the discus for the second time in her young career. Her mark of 175-11 was good for second overall and fifth in the conference. Card also won the shotput event with her mark of 50-8 ¼. She led off a 1-2-3 finish for the Badgers in that event, as juniors Jasmine Boyer (49-3 ¾) and Taylor Smith (49-3) finished second and third, respectively. Sophomore Abby Lueck (45-6 ¼) finished sixth. Seniors Megan Rennhack (144-7) and Natasha Smith (127-3) took third and fifth, respectively, in the javelin.
Freshman Sophie Roth led the Badgers on the track, bringing home two runner-up finishes in the 100 meters (11.95) and 200 meters (24.50). Both times are also personal-bests. Classmates Lizzie Wendt (4:48.81) and Caroline Bauer (4:49.38) finished third and fourth in the 1500 meters. Sophomore Theresa Selestow finished third in the 5000 meters with a career-best 17:15.52.
Wisconsin also sent athletes to the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. The group there was led by sophomore Liga Blyholder, who ran a career-best 2:10.89 in the 800 meters, good for second.
The Badgers will compete in the Drake Relays next weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.
Volleyball
The volleyball team completed its spring season over the weekend at the University of Northern Iowa Spring Invitational. The Badgers played five two-set matches, splitting four of them.
Wisconsin rallied to win the second set in its matches against UNI, Iowa, and a team of alumnae from participating schools. The Badgers won the first set against Missouri but lost a close second set, while also falling to Northwestern in straight sets.
Look for a release here later this week when the fall 2012 volleyball schedule is expected to be released.
Women’s Hockey
Erika Sowchuk, a forward from Fernie, British Columbia, and Jorie Walters, a goaltender from Grinnell, Iowa, will join the Wisconsin women’s hockey team in the 2012-13 season.
Sowchuk was the leading scorer at the Edge School in Calgary, Alberta with 34 points (12G, 22A) last season. She also helped Team Canada win the gold medal at the U-18 Women’s World Championship this year.
Walters is the first person to be signed to the program from Iowa, although she recently finished her high school career at Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.), where current Badger Brianna Decker played. She went 24-4-1 in 2011-12 while helping her team finish third at the 2012 USA Hockey Tier 1 U-19 Nationals.
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