Softball's Next Destination: The Land of Lincoln
April 15, 2003 | Softball
Wisconsin travels to the state of Illinois this weekend to take on three different opponents. The Badgers (13-20, 2-8 Big Ten) kick off their five-game road trip with a non-conference game versus Illinois-Chicago on Thursday. UW returns to Big Ten action Friday and Saturday against Northwestern and closes its trip with a doubleheader versus Illinois Sunday.
UW vs. Weekend Competition: The Badgers, 0-2 versus Illinois-Chicago, faced the Flames for the first time in program history last season in Chicago. The Badgers also battled the Flames in the NCAA tournament last year. Bucky is 6-9 against the Wildcats and have won the last five matchups versus NU. The Badgers split with the Illini in Madison last year and are 1-6 all-time against UI.
On The Road Again: After their four-game homestand last weekend, the Badgers are returning to the road this weekend. UW opened the 2003 season with 29 road games and have eight more regular season road games scheduled. Wisconsin played 37 regular-season road games last season.
Web hits: Follow the action on UWBADGERS.COM: If you can't make it to Goodman Diamond in person, log on to UWBADGERS.COM for the next best thing. Live stats and radio broadcasts of home games are available via the Badgers ' website. Log on now for archived radio broadcasts by clicking on 'multimedia' from the softball page or softball GAMEDAY page. WSUM's Justin Furr and Mike Johnson provide the call for UWBADGERS.COM.
Nat At Bat: After seeing just three starts in five games her freshman year, sophomore Natalie Phillips has earned more playing time this season. She has started the last six games and recorded the only two hits for UW in game one versus MSU Sunday. She also tallied two key hits and an RBI in the Badgers' 6-1 win over Indiana. She has started 13 games this year and ranks second on the team with a .300 batting average in Big Ten games.
Barnharst's Bat Highlights Weekend: Senior Erin Barnharst led the Badgers at the plate versus Michigan and Michigan State recording a team-high .444 BA over the weekend with four hits, including a double and two RBI. Barnharst tallied the only RBIs for UW this weekend and was 3-for-3 in game two Sunday. Barnharst was Big Ten Player of the Week on Feb. 19.
A glimpse at the Big Ten: Here's where conference schools fall after weekend No. 3: UM (7-1); IA (7-2); UI (7-3); MSU (6-3); MN (6-4); NU (6-6); PSU (4-4); PU (4-6); OSU (2-4); UW (2-8); IU (0-10)
