After an impressive start this season, the UW softball team is eager to play this weekend at the UTEP Invitational in El Paso, Texas. Wisconsin, which received nine votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll released last Monday, enters the round-robin tournament with a 3-2 record. Its only losses have come from the defending national champions, Arizona, and No. 2 Arizona State.

The Badgers will play four games in two days. They will start the tournament with their toughest competition, Utah. Although just 4-5-1 to begin this year, the Utes are better than their record indicates.

"Utah is the best team we're going to face," coach Chandelle Schulte said. "They were a regional team last year and they can hit."

Starting pitcher Meghan Dyer is also tough. Opponents hit just .220 off of the senior and she averages 1.67 strikeouts per inning pitched.

Following its game against Utah, Wisconsin will face Northern Colorado tonight, which is 1-9 on the season. Saturday morning the Badgers will face the Bulls of Buffalo, who are winless at 0-5. Looking at those records should give the Badgers a lot of confidence, but Schulte hopes her team will play to its potential regardless of the incoming records of its opponents.

UW concludes the round-robin play against the tournament's host, the University of Texas-El Paso. The Miners, 7-3, have had a fairly easy schedule to start this year. Despite UTEP's soft schedule, UW still views this as a challenging matchup.

"UTEP had almost 100 home runs last year, and right now they're almost up to 20," Schulte said. "If you make a mistake, they're going to hit it."

Catcher Rachel Schaeffer, outfielder Jennifer Stalter and infielder Amber Bennett all have gone yard three times already. Bennett also hits a team-leading .567, setting the table for the Miners' .407 team batting average. On the year, UTEP has scored 94 runs compared to UW's 14.

Even though the Badgers are still playing indoors on the football practice field, the girls are fundamentally sound and are ready to go.

"We get a lot of reps in here, and although we're not outside, we get our practice time in," senior center fielder Samantha Polito said.

Coming out on top this weekend will take a joint effort from all the girls on the team. There are 16 girls on the roster, and each one plays an important part for the team.

"We talk about it all the time, that we don't have any superstars," Schulte said. "We don't have one kid that is going to win us a game. We have 16, so it's going to take a different kid every day, and that's exactly what we see when we look at the stats."

One player the Badgers can expect big things from is senior third baseman Athena Vasquez, who leads the team with a .357 batting average and 4 RBI. Not only does Vasquez hit for average, she also has gotten hits at the right time, providing the game-winning hits in UW's first two games this season.

In addition to the third baseman, Polito has gone 5-of-17 (.294) this season. Most notably, she scored her 100th run as a Badger, leaving her 13 behind the school record. Closing in on a record herself, junior outfielder Katie Hnatyk only needs one more home run to break the school record.

On the mound, freshman Letty Olivarez is expected to continue the success she's had to start this season. Against No. 2 Arizona State, she pitched brilliantly, holding the Sun Devils to one earned run. Mix in Olivarez with senior drop-baller Eden Brock and the Badgers have a formidable one-two punch.