On the heels of its first three-game-winning streak since the Blue & Gold Felsberg Memorial tournament in February, the Wisconsin softball team looks to continue its strong play into this weekend, as it travels to Champaign, Ill. to face the No. 19 Fighting Illini.
While the Badgers (14-26) did play their first 28 games on the road in five non-conference tournaments and four road series before finally coming back home to Goodman Diamond, Saturday’s game in Illinois will be the first road contest in 20 days.
Although the team said it has enjoyed its time home, freshman Molly Spence believes the Badgers are ready for the road trip.
“I think we’re ready,” Spence, a Wilmette, Ill. native, said. “We’ve been home for awhile and we’re getting a little bit antsy I feel, [so] it’ll be nice to get out and go see Illinois.”
The Badgers concluded a successful week Wednesday, as they swept the Coyotes of the University of South Dakota, winning game one 5-1 and blowing out the Coyotes 10-2 in game two. They also split a doubleheader with Northern Illinois on Tuesday, losing 5-4 in eight innings in game one and defeating the Huskies 4-3 in the second game.
It was a record day for the team on Wednesday, as three players entered the program record books. Starting pitcher Letty Olivarez tied a school record with 17 strikeouts, Spence set a school record with seven runs batted in and Jennifer Krueger became the single-season record-holder for stolen bases in a season, stealing her 20th and 21st bases of the year.
Olivarez said in post-game interviews Wednesday that the team has been making a concerted effort to try to warm up hard, and the team was able to play especially loose and relaxed.
As a result, the team scored 15 runs on the day; the second most recorded on a single day this season, and jacked two home runs. The home runs came off the bats of freshman third baseman Shannel Blackshear, her fifth of the year, and Spence, who blasted her first career grand slam and seventh homer of the year.
“We had a really good warm-up before the game, and they worked on being loose and thinking bombs away,” said Olivarez, the beneficiary of Blackshear’s three-run shot and winning pitcher of game one.
Hoping to keep the momentum going, the team travels to play a feisty Illinois team that possesses three players hitting over .404 this season and has outscored its opponents by the not-so-slight margin of 225-77.
“They’re good. We’re gonna need to go out there and be aggressive on both the defense and offensive side,” Olivarez said. “If we just go attack right away, we should be in the game with them.”
The Illini (32-5) are led by infielder Meredith Hackett and pitcher Monica Perry. Hackett, a Corona, Ca. native, is batting a blistering .404, with a team-leading eight home runs and 35 RBIs. Perry, who boasts an impressive 17-4 record and a 2.41 earned run average, has not lost a game since giving up four runs on four hits in two innings pitched in a March 27th loss to No. 2 Michigan.
Something else of note is the speed of junior infielder Danielle Zymkowitz, who has a team-leading 30 stolen bases. Speed has been a troubling issue for the Badgers in the past, as both Iowa and Purdue took advantage of the their sometimes-spotty middle infield.
If the Badgers hope to contend with the Illini at all, they will need strong contributions from their own speedsters on the top of the lineup, initiating rallies and making it easier to score runs.
“It’s a big momentum grabber,” Olivarez said. “When we get [players] on in the top of the order, it’s really nice to have [them] moving around the bases because most teams get nervous when fast runners get on.”
Krueger, also the all-time career leader in stolen bases for Wisconsin, is starting to swing the bat with more precision, going 3-4 Wednesday with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs.
Her production greatly benefits the offense, and her speed helps shore up the outfield defense.
For the team, winning close games against both Northern Illinois and blowing out South Dakota helps prepare it for a tough road trip this weekend.
“We did really well, and we kept our heads up even when there was a sticky moment,” Blackshear said. “[Hopefully] this is just progression towards winning more.”
