The Wisconsin women’s softball team (11-5) has high hopes heading into the third tournament of the season. The Badgers have already matched their best start in team history, and they are looking to build on that success as they travel to San Jose this weekend for the National Invitational Softball Tournament.
In their last tournament, the Badgers posted a 4-1 record at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. Wisconsin’s only loss of the tournament came in an eight-inning thriller against No. 9 Alabama, ending their school-record-matching eight-game win streak.
The Badgers were led by catcher and co-captain Boo Gillette, who hit .421 in the tournament with five of her eight hits coming as doubles. Two days after the tournament, Gillette was named Big Ten Player of the Week, the first time she has received that honor in her career.
“I didn’t even know I made it,” Gillette said. “Our coach e-mailed it to us, and I was pretty excited [because] it was my first time.”
The Badgers have started strong despite losing co-captain Meghann Reiss for the season due to a knee injury she suffered in practice. Reiss, who was recently drafted by the Colorado Altitude of the National Pro Fastpitch League, was expected to be a major offensive contributor as well as an emotional leader. In the absence of Reiss, co-captains Diana Consolmagno and Gillette have taken the reigns, along with shortstop Kris Zacher.
“It was a really unfortunate injury for us,” head coach Karen Gallagher said. “But those things happen, and as a team you’ve got to learn to move on.”
And move on the Badgers will, as they head into San Jose this weekend to face a field of teams that have also seen their fair share of troubles.
First on the block is a matchup with Syracuse (5-11) Friday, against whom the Badgers hold a 3-0 all-time record. The Orangewomen are led by free-swinging shortstop Alexis Switenko, who leads the team with a .306 batting average to go with her four home runs and 11 RBI. Despite this offensive diamond in the rough, Syracuse has dropped four straight games going into the National Invitational Tournament.
In their second game of the day, the Badgers will take on the San Jose State Spartans Friday, who have won only two of their 15 games this season. The Spartans have struggled at the plate this season, with no player hitting .300. Elisa Barrios holds the highest batting average on the team at .277. The Spartans’ most powerful slugger, Jessica Guillen, has just two home runs and eight RBI to her name.
If the Badgers beat Syracuse and San Jose State, they will move into bracket play and face the possibility of taking on ranked teams from the three other pools. Possible bracket opponents include No. 4 California, No. 7 Washington, No. 20 Arizona, and No. 21 Iowa, along with Minnesota, Purdue, Sacramento State, Santa Clara and Virginia.
The key for the Badgers this weekend will be to keep the offense rolling. That job will fall on the shoulders of Zacher and Gillette, who lead the team with batting averages of .407 and .391, respectively.
“We need to continually work on our offensive attack and put the ball in play a little more,” Gallagher said. “Scoring runs early for our pitchers is really key. When you score runs early, it takes a lot of pressure off the pitchers.”
In addition to Wisconsin’s offensive success, the Badgers have performed very well defensively. The team’s strikeout totals are not spectacular, which means opponents are putting the ball in play. With the pitching staff allowing opponents to make contact, a strong defense goes a long way toward taking pressure off the pitchers.
“I have to give a lot of credit to our defense,” said Gallagher. “These are more finesse pitchers, and the ball’s going to be put into play a little bit more. It’s part of the deal that we had to play good defense, and I think we’ve really stepped up in that way.”
Aided by a strong defense and powerful hitting, the UW pitchers have really stepped up this season. As a team, the Badgers have recorded an ERA of 1.92, led by freshman Eden Brock’s 0.78 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
“What Eden has brought to the mound for us has been wonderful,” Gallagher said. “She’s not an overpowering pitcher, but she’s a great presence on the mound and she hits her spots.”
