After a series sweep over Purdue last weekend, the University of Wisconsin softball team (36-10, 13-7 Big Ten) will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (20-28, 8-12) in their last regular season series.
With Wisconsin looking to go to the Big Ten Tournament on a six-game win streak and improve their standing, Yvette Healy’s Badgers will have to conquer one more opponent at Goodman Diamond.
Nebraska boasts a losing Big Ten record but is not a team to take lightly in a highly competitive Big Ten conference.
The Cornhuskers will travel with top hitter Tristen Edwards and top pitcher Regan Mergele.
Edwards poses a huge power threat for Nebraska, as she sits tied for first in the Big Ten for home runs with 15. To put that into perspective, she is tied with Wisconsin’s very own Kayla Konwent.
While Konwent beats Edwards outright in batting average, Edwards still sits 11th in the Big Ten at .368. Edwards will look to be a spark for the rather lackluster Nebraska offense — which sits third-to-last in the Big Ten — come this weekend.
While Mergele poses the best ERA for the Cornhuskers at 3.48 and the Badgers can expect to see her sometime this weekend, the more probable pitcher that the powerful Wisconsin offense will face is Lindsey Walljasper.
Walljasper holds a 10-11 record with 28 appearances in the circle this season, and will look to limit the usually dominant Badger lineup.
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But the Nebraska pitching staff as a whole also sits third from the bottom in the Big Ten based off of ERA — something the Badgers will look to take advantage of, as they have proved in the past that they are good at scoring runs.
Wisconsin poses a three-game win streak in their part matchups against Nebraska after sweeping them last season. But it’s the Cornhuskers who hold the lead in the all-time record between these two teams, 12-5.
The first pitch of this series will take place form Goodman Diamond Friday at 5 p.m. Games will continue Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Watch live on BTN+ or follow live stats at uwbadgers.com.
