All Or Nothing For Rivals UW, UM
May 03, 2007 | Softball
A season of 40-plus games hinges on the final two for a pair of Big Ten rivals looking to extend their seasons. Wisconsin and Minnesota meet in Minneapolis this weekend with the final two spots of the conference tournament still up for grabs. Only one team, either UW or UM, will have a chance to advance.
In fact, Saturday's noon contest at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium is an elimination game. The winner must also win Sunday's rematch and hope that either Michigan sweeps Michigan State or Ohio State sweeps Penn State in their respective series. If Wisconsin and Minnesota split, then Michigan State and Penn State will take the final two spots of the eight-team tournament.
The good news is that Ohio State must sweep Penn State in order to claim its first Big Ten title since 1990. That series is being played in Columbus. No. 8 Michigan and Michigan State will host one game each in a series that Michigan has won the last six meetings.
Series History: The Badgers and Golden Gophers have met twice every year since 1996, the first year of the UW program. Five of the 11 series have ended with a split. Wisconsin earned its first sweep in Minneapolis back in 2005, the last time the series was played there, and has won seven of the last 10 meetings against the Gophers.
The Pitching: The premier matchup in the circle will be senior Eden Brock (14-12) for Wisconsin against sophomore Briana Hassett (11-7) for Minnesota. UW's Letty Olivarez and UM's Rene Konderik and Katie Dalen are likely to play a role as well, but Brock and Hassett are likely to be the game one starters.
Brock is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in three career outings against Minnesota. In 21 innings, she has 20 strikeouts against two walks and hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in either start.
Brock (2.04) and Hassett (2.05) stand eighth and ninth in the Big Ten standings for ERA. Hassett has six shutouts this year including the 15th no-hitter in Minnesota history. She accomplished the feat against South Dakota State back on April 24. Hassett struck out a career-high 14 and was perfect through 5 2/3 innings.
Hassett lasted just 3 1/3 innings in her start against the Badgers last season, but allowed just one run on three hits. She walked three and struck out four.
The Hitting: The strength of both team 's lineups by far lies at the top. The featured matchup is Samantha Polito and Katie Hnatyk for Wisconsin against Megan Higginbotham and Lisa Parks for Minnesota. Polito, Hnatyk and Higginbotham, along with UW's Ricci Robben, are the only players that carry a .300 average into the weekend series.
Polito had a school-record 16-game hitting streak ended last weekend against Michigan State. Her .368 average ranks 10th in the Big Ten and she's four hits away from becoming UW's all-time leader.
Hnatyk is hitting .400 and has two home runs in her career against Minnesota. She needs one home run and two RBI to tie UW's single-season record. Hnatyk was 3-for-6 in Wisconsin's twin bill with No. 9 Michigan last weekend.
Higginbotham leads UM with a .301 average and leads the team in nearly every offensive category. She homered in back-to-back games against UW-Green Bay Wednesday and was 3-for-6 in the doubleheader. Higginbotham had three hits in her previous 22 at bats heading into Wednesday's games (.136), but may have got it going at the right time.
Parks has had the hottest bat as of late for Minnesota, batting .292 in her last 10 games. Six of her last seven hits have gone for extra bases and in fact she has more extra-base hits than singles in her two seasons at UM. She leads the Gophers with eight home runs this season and was 4-for-7 last year with a bomb against Wisconsin.
Border Battle: The Wisconsin-Minnesota softball series will likely determine the winner of the third annual TDS Border Battle, the annual competition between the school's athletic departments. Wisconsin holds a 10-point lead with each softball game counting for 20 points each. Men's and women 's track and field are the only other sports still to be decided, but the school 's are expected to split their points evenly. UW won the inaugural trophy, but the Gophers claimed last year's prize.
