With a record-setting regular season now in the rear-view mirror, the Wisconsin softball team sets its sights on the postseason where it will play in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal Friday.
Wisconsin (39-11, 16-7 Big Ten) will head to Lincoln, Neb., as the No. 4 seed in the tournament and await the winner of the game between No. 5 Northwestern and No. 12 Indiana.
Falling to the fourth spot in the Big Ten is a bit of a disappointment for the Badgers who had a slim chance of snagging the top spot going into last weekend’s three-game series with Michigan State, though is still an accomplishment Wisconsin coach Yvette Healy and her team are proud of.
“To be a top-four seed in the Big Ten, with how strong the conference is this year, it’s still a huge achievement,” Healy said. “To finish in the top four, that was one of our goals, to get a bye in the tournament was a goal. It wasn’t as flashy being fourth, but it’s one of our small victories along the way.”
This weekend will mark the first time the Big Ten tournament will be held since 2008, after the Big Ten decided to go without a conference tournament for four years, making this the first appearance in the tournament and postseason all together for everyone on the roster.
Senior Whitney Massey says there is a definite buzz amongst the team this week going into the post season and the players’ first Big Ten tournament.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” Massey said. “We’ve never been here before, so having the Big Ten tournament coming up is exciting … I know I’m really excited about it and it’s kind of cool that it’s happening my last year here, so I get to be a part of it too.”
No matter who Wisconsin is matched up with Friday, Northwestern or Indiana, it will have the confidence of knowing it can beat them as the Badgers swept their regular season series with both the Wildcats and the Hoosiers.
If the teams play to their seed and Northwestern emerges from the first round, it will set the stage for a matchup with Wisconsin that could rehash some grudges and bad blood as it was the Wildcats, not the Badgers, who were given a bid to the NCAA tournament last year despite UW’s superior record. This time, Wisconsin is looking to turn the table on Northwestern.
“We have that focus behind us because they took the bid away from us last year,” Massey said. “So, I think we will have that edge behind us.”
Wisconsin was able to hold Northwestern to just three runs in their 3-1 and 4-2 wins over the Wildcats in a two-game series at Goodman Diamond in April.
Junior pitcher Cassandra Darrah, who is set to be UW’s starter Friday, knows she will have to shell out a solid pitching performance against a Northwestern team who has the third-best batting average in the Big Ten at .305.
“[Having solid starting pitching] is super important,” Darrah said. “The pitching staff has to set the tone for the tournament, so we have to do our best.”
In her only appearance against Northwestern this season, Darrah pitched a gem allowing only one run on four hits and racking up seven strikeouts.
With an RPI rating of 26, Wisconsin is in line to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, but Healy isn’t worried about her team overlooking the competition this weekend.
“I think everybody’s got their eyes set on game one, and I think that’s what you have to do for the rest of the year,” Healy said. “Any win that you get from this point on, it’s going to be a history-making win, it’s going to be a huge accomplishment. The fact that we are sitting on 39 wins makes it even more thrilling.”
For the seniors on the squad, the postseason stretch run is going to be an emotional ride as they make their first postseason appearances in their careers, knowing their time as Wisconsin softball players will soon come to an end – something Massey thinks will give her team an advantage.
“It’s definitely going to put some emotional charge behind every single game,” Massey said. “It will feel like Senior Day every day.”
