Tonight the Badgers will welcome Big Ten rival Minnesota in the softball team’s version of the Border Battle.
Both the Badgers and Golden Gophers have struggled as of late. Wisconsin will seek to end their 10-game skid and earn a victory at Goodman Diamond for the first time since April 1 when they beat rival UW Green Bay. Minnesota hasn’t been playing stellar softball lately either. Although they won their last game 1-0 versus Penn State in eight innings, they have lost seven of their last nine overall. Their recent slide, however, isn’t indicative of their play throughout the entire season. They are a respectable 22-25 overall and 5-7 in Big Ten play. The game is a must-win for the Badgers simply to end the month long drought.
“We just need to take what we did well on Saturday and take that into tomorrow’s double header,” Badger pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven said. “Offense, defense and pitching you know we showed signs of great moments, and we really need to capitalize more on them, and hopefully we can overcome our challenges of late.”
If the Badgers are to have any success, they will undoubtedly need to slow down heavy-hitting Gopher first baseman Malisa Barnes. She’s hitting .342 on the year, with five homeruns and 24 RBIs. While her numbers may seem imposing, Vanevenhoven won’t be fazed. In her last start, she faced Sam Marder, the prolific Ohio State Buckeye catcher who is hitting .382 with 15 homeruns, and held her to only two hits, a harmless single and double.
Vanevenhoven is one of two key components for the Badger pitching attack, the other being starter Letty Olivarez. While the latter didn’t fare too well versus the Buckeyes, losing 10-0, Vanevenhoven displayed unbelievable heart in pitching all 11 innings of the Badgers’ recent heartbreaking loss to Ohio State. With a thin bullpen, the senior from Kaukauna, Wis., extended herself to the maximum, striking out five Buckeyes while allowing six runs throughout the course of the game.
“Leah was brilliant,” head coach Chandelle Schulte said. “She was great through 10, but you got to finish.”
Another spark the Badgers will certainly need must come from light hitting shortstop Katie Soderberg. Her stellar defense, and unexpected contributions at the plate, made the unexpected upset bid of 15th-ranked Ohio State almost a reality. Early on in the game, Soderberg, hitting .134, smashed a double into the outfield with the bases loaded, which cleared the bases and gave the Badgers a 3-0. Later on in the bottom of the sixth inning, she lined a single straight up the middle that scored the Badgers fifth run of the game. With runs being such a scarce commodity this season, you can be sure to see Soderberg in the lineup. She only played defense in the first game but was given the chance to bat in the second, an opportunity she took full advantage of.
“I think we can build off of this (the Ohio State game),” Soderberg said. “I think it’s definitely a learning experience. Our team felt different in the second game.”
The Badgers have the all-time edge in the series with a record of 14-12, but they have dropped the last three games against the Golden Gophers. In 2008 when these two teams met in Madison, Wisconsin was outscored 18-4 in dropping both games.
“We all want it really bad, we saw what we could do against Ohio State, we know we can do it against any team, we just have to put those moments together,” Vanevenhoven said.
