Softball Plays Final Weekend Home Series
April 24, 2003 | Softball
The Wisconsin softball team will face Penn State and Ohio State in its final weekend home series of the 2003 season. The Badgers battle Penn State Friday night at 6 p.m. and Saturday at noon. UW takes on Ohio State in doubleheader action Sunday at noon. The Badgers still have two more home games on their slate next week with contests set for Wednesday and Thursday.
Home Sweet Goodman Diamond The Badgers are finally looking at a long home stand after playing just four games at home and 33 road games this season. This weekend's Big Ten games kick off a seven-game home stand for Wisconsin with four games over the weekend and non-conference games scheduled for next week. UW will face Illinois-Chicago April 30 and UW-Green Bay on May 1.
Don't turn that dial: This Saturday, Wisconsin's game versus Penn State will air on WIBA (1310 AM) in Madison. Jason Dickson and former Badger Amanda Berg will make the call.
UW vs. Weekend Competition: The Badgers play host to Penn State Friday night and Saturday. Saturday is Parent's Day at Goodman Diamond while Sunday's doubleheader versus Ohio State is Senior Day. UW is 8-13 versus Penn State, but defeated the Nittany Lions 1-0 the last time they were in Madison on April 29, 2001. Wisconsin is 12-7 all-time against the Buckeyes and 2-0 against OSU this year. The Badgers defeated Ohio State twice in Hawaii this season.
Senior Day: `EB', `AK' and `Lillies ' Erin Barnharst went yard five times this year, notching the highest single season home run tally since Julie Borchard hit seven in 1999. Barnharst leads the Badgers with 16 RBIs and nine extra-base hits. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week Feb. 19 after hitting three home runs in three games at the Triangle Classic this year.
From 1999 to 2003, Kirchberg rewrote the UW pitching record book, breaking career records in ERA, wins, appearances, complete games, innings pitched, strikeouts and winning percentage. In 2001, she was the first and only Badger to record a no-hitter and a month and a half later pitched UW's only perfect game. She has also been selected as All-Big Ten twice and All-Mideast Region twice. Her 1,120 career strikeouts as a Badger rank 12th all-time nationally.
Mandy Liles, the team's most improved player in 2002, has started all 37 games this season and leads the team with two triples and six two-hit games. Last season, Liles had the game-winning hit versus Minnesota and tallied three RBI, while this year, Liles has recorded five RBI and four extra-base hits.
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. WSUM's Justin Furr and Mike Johnson provide the call for UWBADGERS.COM.
Going Yard: Nine different Badgers have hit home runs this season. Barnharst leads UW with five dingers, while Boo Gillette has three and Kris Zacher and Sheena Padovan each have two. Meghann Reiss, Diana Consolmagno and Andrea Kirchberg have contributed one HR each, while Emily Friedman and Anastasia Miller hit their first jacks as Badgers last weekend. UW's 17 round-trippers in 37 games this year top last season's 10 in 53 games.
