Badgers look to continue winning ways at Northwestern
May 07, 2010 | Softball
May 7, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin softball heads to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern in its third-to-last series of the season on Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9. Both games against the Wildcats are slated for 1 p.m. (CT) and can be seen live on BigTenNetwork.com.
Overall, NU leads the teams' all-time series with a 22-8 margin, including a 9-5 advantage in Evanston. The Badgers are looking to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Wildcats, having last won a game in the series in 2004. NU took both games last season in Madison by scores of 3-1 and 2-0.
Northwestern faces the Badgers coming off of a 4-2 loss at DePaul on Wednesday, snapping a five-game winning streak NU. The Wildcats have won six of their last eight games though, and hold a 24-19 record overall and a 9-5 Big Ten mark.
Five players stand out for the Wildcats offensively. At the top, Emily Allard is leading the team in hitting with a .382 average in addition to recording 34 runs, 55 hits, five doubles and 33 stolen bases in 36 attempts.
Michelle Batts is the biggest power threat, leading the team and ranking fifth in the Big Ten with 13 home runs while slugging .705. She also is batting .328 with 40 hits, seven doubles, and is fifth in the conference with 44 RBI.
Adrienne Monka also has nailed 12 home runs this season and is batting .287 with a .648 slugging percentage. Nicole Pauly and Emily Haug have hit 11 and 10 home runs, respectively for NU.
In the circle for NU, Lauren Delaney is 11-12 with a 3.92 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 137.1 innings of work. Jessica Smith is 9-6 with a 4.18 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 92 innings, while Meghan Lamberth is 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 51.2 innings.
Having won seven of their last nine games, the Badgers look to continue their winning ways and extend last weekend's conference sweep of Indiana.
Sunday's 4-0 shutout over the Hoosiers proved to be a true team effort as six different Badgers earned an RBI and seven different Badgers scored a run, while senior Letty Olivarez and freshman Meghan Mcintosh combined for five scoreless innings on the mound. The win also extended Wisconsin's home-winning streak to seven games, tied for the second-longest in school history.
Leading the Badgers offensively, Molly Spence is batting .364 with 48 hits, seven doubles, seven homeruns and 34 RBI. Shannel Blackshear is hitting .313 with 41 hits, six doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI, while Whitney Massey is batting .281 with 34 hits, four doubles, four triples and three home runs.
Letty Olivarez is 11-21 with a 3.39 ERA and 157 strikeouts. In her last three starts, however, Olivarez has gone 2-0 with a 1.58 ERA. Meghan Mcintosh is 6-7 with a 6.35 ERA and 42 strikeouts.
Fans can follow all the Badger action through the live Gameday Blog and Gametracker on UWBadgers.com.
