The University of Wisconsin softball team will travel to Happy Valley this weekend to take on conference foe Penn State. The Badgers enter the series having lost four in a row while the Nittany Lions come in riding a two-game win streak.
Last weekend, Penn State swept Iowa to notch their first two conference victories and their sixth and seventh wins of the season. This upcoming series will provide a chance for the Badgers to begin digging themselves out of the season-long funk they have been muddled in. Head coach Chandelle Schulte was adamant the team needs to forget about their struggles thus far and focus on what’s remaining of the season.
“Today we said we’re going to start a four-and-a-half week season, and let’s make it the best four-and-a-half week season we’ve ever had,” Schulte said.
At the forefront of the Badger’s resurgence will have to be center fielder Jen Krueger, who has been one of the lynchpins of the team. She’s played in all 35 games, hit for a .340 average, walked 11 times and swiped 16 stolen bases this season. For an offense struggling as mightily as the Badgers’ is, they can’t ask for more production out of their leadoff spot.
In softball, it’s widely believed that hitting is contagious, but for some reason Krueger’s production atop the lineup has yet to manifest itself deeper into the order.
“Everybody’s waiting for somebody to do it,” Schulte said. “The problem is that nobody is — it can’t be contagious if you’re always waiting.”
Schulte believes Krueger has done a great job so far this year, but in tough times, everyone can look at aspects of their game and improve them.
“She’s doing a good job, but she could do a better job and that’s what we talked about: better at-bats, can’t start the game striking out as a lefty. [Get] out, that’s fine, but put the ball in play,” Schulte said.
Despite the rest of the team’s struggles, Krueger was still optimistic about the deeper parts of the Badger lineup.
“It’s not like they’re not trying, I mean they’re working as hard as they can, it’s just not happening,” Krueger said. “They hit the ball hard — it just happens to go right at someone.”
The Badgers have been shut out in four of their last six games, winning one and scoring only two runs in the remaining loss. Starting pitchers Letty Olivarez and Leah Vanevenhoven have struggled as of late. In her most recent outing, Olivarez allowed seven earned runs in seven innings, although she did strike out nine in the process.
Their struggles may come down to the fact that their bodies are simply tiring. Whenever either one of them gets replaced in the circle, they usually remain in the game to play outfield. Compound that with their struggles at the plate, and it appears that they simply need a break. As of Wednesday, the Badgers had played six games in seven days, and either Olivarez or Vanevenhoven has started in the circle for every one of them.
While their bodies way be waning, the team’s collective mood is upbeat.
“We’re excited just because we need to prove that we’re better than this,” Krueger said. “We know we are.”
Schulte echoed Krueger’s sentiments.
“Nobody’s happy about losing — we addressed that — and one of the things is we’re very honest with each other, and I said I’m not (happy) either,” Schulte said. “We’ve just got to come together.”
