The Wisconsin softball team kicks off the 2004 season in Las Vegas Friday with games against LSU and Cal-Riverside.

After three-straight postseason appearances from 2000 to 2002, the Badgers failed to qualify last season after a disappointing 19-26 finish.

“It felt horrible,” UW head coach Karen Gallagher said. “[Making the postseason] is part of the plan, and when it doesn’t happen you go back to square one and say, ‘What do we need to do differently?'”

This season the Badgers hope to reclaim a spot in the postseason and become a legitimate contender in the Big Ten. It will be a tough challenge with perennial powerhouses Iowa and Michigan looming in the conference, but Gallagher remains confident that Wisconsin can compete if each player understands her role.

“It’s all about the team winning and not individuals,” Gallagher said. “It doesn’t just take good, talented athletes. Everybody has a role to fill, whether it’s a starter or somebody off the bench.”

The Badgers have a lot to look forward to this year. They will put a defense on the field that was second in the Big Ten last season with only 43 errors. The infield has not changed since last year except for the addition of freshman Athena Vasquez at third base.

At shortstop, junior Kris Zacher will bring speed and production to the offense and a solid glove to the defense. Last year she batted .228 and led the team with 19 RBI, while finishing 4-4 in stolen base attempts.

“Zacher has all the tools to be a great player, and it’s time for her to step up and be a leader of our infield,” Gallagher said.

Emily Friedman and Meghann Reiss fill out the rest of the infield at second base and first base respectively. Gallagher expects Reiss, who was recently drafted 44th overall by the Colorado Altitude of the National Pro Fastpitch league, to step up as a team leader this year. Reiss had a down year last year, hitting only .207 and knocking in 13 RBI after hitting .287 with 14 RBI in 2002, but she worked hard on her hitting in the offseason and expects to make a strong comeback.

“I really focused on getting back to the basics, seeing the ball and hitting the ball hard and becoming a better leader,” Reiss said.

Gallagher will look to Reiss, along with her co-captains Boo Gillette and Diana Consolmagno, to bolster the Badger’s offense this season. After hitting a Big Ten-low .199 as a team last season, the Badgers can only improve offensively and with the help of third-team All-Big Ten catcher Gillette, Wisconsin expects to do just that. Last year Gillette led the team with a .296 average and posted four home runs and 18 RBI.

Another big hitter for Wisconsin is junior centerfielder Anastasia Miller. Miller started last season as a walk-on and blasted a home run in her first official at-bat. She finished with three home runs, 8 RBI and a remarkable.762 slugging percentage in 21 at-bats. Consolmagno in left field and junior Natalie Phillips in right join Miller in the outfield.

After losing third-team All-Big Ten pitcher Andrea Kirchberg, who was third in the Big Ten in strikeouts last season with 278, the Badgers have some question marks regarding the pitching staff. Junior Katie Layne is expected to step up as this year’s ace, but she is the only pitcher on the staff with Division I experience. Sophomore Sara Gonzales, who injured her knee and will miss the next two weeks of action, and freshman Eden Brock show promise, but neither hurler has seen action at the Division I level.

“We don’t have a strikeout artist like Kirchberg,” Gallagher said. “We have pitchers who are more or less finesse pitchers. It will be about them hitting their spots, sticking to a game plan and going with what works for them.”

The Badgers are a young team, with 14 underclassmen on the roster, but they are brimming with confidence. Wisconsin feels it can compete with Big Ten juggernauts Iowa and Michigan and expects to be back in the postseason at season’s end.

“We’re going to be ready for them, but I think it’s the other teams you need to worry about: Northwestern, Michigan State, Illinois, who consistently put out good teams,” Reiss said. “There are always the powerhouses, but I think everyone can be good this year.”

The test begins this weekend for the Badgers. UW will face a tough schedule that includes California and defending national champions UCLA in addition to a challenging Big Ten field. In their ninth season as a program, the Badger softball team won’t settle for a solid regular season. They want to make an impact in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, and with their strong defense and improved hitting, their dreams may become a reality.