The end of the regular season is in sight as the Badger softball team plays host to the University of Illinois-Chicago Wednesday and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Thursday in a home doubleheader. To wrap up the regular season, the Badgers head to Minnesota to play the Gophers this Saturday and Sunday.
Riding a three-game winning streak into the UI-Chicago game, UW is playing with a lot of confidence.
“It’s definitely big — bringing that momentum into this weekend,” assistant coach Brandee McArthur said.
Wisconsin’s momentum will be put to the test early this week when the team faces its non-conference opponent, UI-Chicago. The Flames come into Madison with a 9-6 record in their conference and a 17-34 record overall, putting them in third place in the Horizon League. However, the Flames have lost four of their last five games. Leading UI-Chicago from the batter’s box is junior Amanda Rivera. Rivera has a .303 batting average with five homeruns and 21 RBIs. The Flames rely heavily on three players to drive in runs (Rivera, Sara Hernandez and Alycia Creese) as they have totaled 67 of the team’s 117 total RBIs.
Badger pitcher Andrea Kirchberg has her work cut out for her if she wants to stop the UI-Chicago attack. She managed to restore some of her confidence last weekend by finishing the win over Penn State in which she struck out three and walked none. Kirchberg and pitcher Katie Layne were able to provide a nice combination against PSU. Layne took some of the pitching load on her shoulders in a performance the Badgers hope to see again this weekend.
“It’s good to take some pressure off her (Andrea),” Layne said. “It’s important for me to do well.”
Layne will likely start half of the games this week with Kirchberg stepping in as a relief pitcher when she does not start.
The Badgers’ final home game is Thursday against in-state rival UW-Green Bay. UWGB (4-8 in conference play, 8-21 overall) brings a struggling pitching staff with a team ERA of 4.80 into Madison. The Phoenix are led by Stephanie Hansen, who has a 4.00 ERA and a record of 5-6 in 72 innings of work. The pitching staff does maintain some balance, however, with Kristin Kosobucki and Lisa Meissner pitching 62.1 innings and 36.1 innings, respectively.
Badger bats should come alive against the UWGB pitching staff. Senior Erin Barnharst had huge games last weekend going 7-for-12 from the plate in four games. In doing so, she led the team and was named co-Big Ten player of the week. Her approach at the plate did not change, however, as she continued to produce runs.
“I was really, really relaxed at the plate,” Barnharst said, “Sometimes when I go to the plate, my knees physically shake.”
After a couple days of rest, the Badgers travel to Minnesota to end the Big Ten season. Minnesota is one of the best fielding teams in the conference, which will put extra emphasis on the Badgers to get big hits. The Gophers also have one of the statistically best pitchers in the Big Ten. Piper Marten has a 1.37 ERA and a record of 19-9, which ranks her third in the conference for wins. To complement the great pitching of Marten, Jordanne Nygren, hitting .363, is sixth in the conference in hitting.
This weekend presents a great opportunity for the Badgers to play with heart and to show what they are made of. A positive mindset will be crucial to its success, as the team is no longer in the hunt for a Big Ten tournament bid.
“One of the things [Coach Gallagher] has stressed with us is play with pride,” Layne said.
