Wisconsin Badgers
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This Week in Badger Softball: Feb. 19-Feb. 21
February 19, 2016 | Softball
Wisconsin takes part in first Big Ten/ACC Challenge
BADGERS TAKE PART IN FIRST ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
After a succssful opening weekend at the Kajikawa Classic, the Wisconsin softball team (4-1) opens play at the first-ever ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Feb. 19. UW will face Louisville two time and North Carolina State twice.Â
| Game 6 Â | Â Wisconsin at Louisville | |
| Date | Friday, Feb. 19 Â | Â 1 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Raleigh, N.C. Â | Â Dail Softball Complex |
| Follow | Live Stats |  Twitter |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin  |  Louisville |
| Game 7 Â | Â Wisconsin vs. Louisville | |
| Date | Saturday, Feb. 20 Â | Â 1:30 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Raleigh, N.C. Â | Â Dail Softball Complex |
| Follow | Live Stats |  Twitter |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin  |  Louisville |
| Game 8 Â | Â Wisconsin at North Carolina State | |
| Date | Saturday, Feb. 20 | Â 6:30 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Raleigh, N.C. Â | Â Dail Softball Complex |
| Watch | BTN Â | Â Watch Live |
| Follow | Live Stats |  Twitter |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin  |  North Carolina State |
| Game 9 Â | Â Wisconsin vs. North Carolina State | |
| Date | Sunday, Feb. 21 Â | Â 11:30 a.m. (CT) |
| Location | Raleigh, N.C. Â | Â Dail Softball Complex |
| Watch | BTN Â | Â Watch Live |
| Follow | Live Stats |  Twitter |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin  |  North Carolina State |
NOTES TO KNOW
1 PULLING RANK ON OPENING DAY: The Badgers opened their season at the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 11 with an upset win over No. 21 California, 4-2. Wisconsin finished the weekend with winning record of 4-1.
2 WALK IT OFF: Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins clinched the win over No. 21 California with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning bringing in both Stephanie Lombardo and herself.
3 CROSS THE LINE: Freshman Melanie Cross came out of the gate strong. In 16 times at the plate, Cross put up three runs, six hits and four RBI for the Badgers.
Cross logged two home runs in one day. The first was against PAC-12 powerhouse California when she went yard to tie up the game 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning.
4 KJ ALL DAY: Kelsey Jenkins, a sophomore from Tucson, Arizona, did not disappoint in her return to the diamond at the Kajikawa Classic.
In the Wisconsin softball team's first game of the season, sophomore Kelsey Jenkins clinched an opening upset for the Badgers (1-1) with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to upset No. 21 California, 4-2.
5 SKYBALL MILLER: Chloe Miller only hit one home run as a sophomore after breaking a UW freshman record in her first campaign with 12 home runs. She hit her first of the season against UC Riverside on Feb. 14.
6 TPS AT YOUR SERVICE: Taylor-Paige Stewart, a senior from Calabasas, California, made her farewell tour debut at the Kajikawa Classic picking up two wins and a save.
Stewart is now tied with Katie Layne (2005) for the program record of career saves with three.
7 VAN ZINGLE: Ashley Van Zeeland got off to a hot start at the Kajikawa Classic with a team-high six hits and also notched a team-best five runs.
8 SHE'S THE MANN:Â Brooke Mann, a freshman from Monrovia, California, knocked out a grand slam that helped the Badgers clinch a 7-0 lead in the first inning against Portland State that eventually led to a 13-5 run-rule victory.Â
9 GRAND SLAM BROOKE MANN: It was the first grand slam for the program since Sara Novak hit one on April 2, 2014 at Michigan.
10 GOLDEN RUN RULE: The Badgers applied the run-rule in the fifth inning twice to secure their victories over Portland State, 13-5, and UC Riverside, 9-1.
11 TPS ON POINT: Taylor-Paige Stewart pitched 14.1 innings allowing 15 hits and eight runs. Stewart pitched the last inning in both games against No. 21 California and UC Riverside, where she allowed no hits.
WISCONSIN-LOUISVILLE SERIES
- This will be the fourth time that Wisconsin faces Louisville and the third time at a neutral location.
-Â UW current leads the overall series 2-1 and the series is tied 1-1 at a neutral site.
- The last time the Badgers faced the Cardinals was March 17. 2014 where UW won, 4-1, at Louisville, K.Y.
-Â The first time the Badgers met the Cardinals was in 2000. The March 18th game was played in Sacramento, California where Wisconsin won the game 1-0.
-Â The Badgers returned to California in 2011 where UW fell, 0-3, in San Diego on March 19th.
-Â The Cardinals out hit the Badgers, 6-5, and were able to tally three runs and three RBIs.
- Finally, the two teams met on Cardinal's home turf where UW claimed the 4-1 victory on March 17, 2014.nIn the 2014 meeting, Wisconsin only had one hit by Chole Miller, who a hit a double to left field. Despite only the one hit, UW was able to to score one run on an error, one run from a walk and two runs off of consecutive wild pitches.
-Â Four Badgers return to face to the Cardinals: Macy Oswald, Sara Novak, Chloe Miller and Ashley Van Zeeland.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
- The Cardinals started off the season strong going 4-1 in the Islanders Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas.
-Â Louisivlle started off the season with a shutout game against Sam Houston State University winning 7-0.
-Â The Cardinals lost, 1-0, on Friday to University of Iowa but turned around the enxt day to beat them, 7-2.
-Â In their last two games, the Cardinals only allowed Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and Sam Houston State University to score only one run.
-Â Freshman Megan Hensley earned the ACC's first weekly honor of the season being named as the ACC Softball Co-Pitcher of the Week. Hensely posted a 3-0 record, earning a win in each of her appearances duing the Islanders Invitational.
-Â Hensley registered a 0.82 ERA and held opponents to a .136 batting average with six strikeouts in 17 innings of pitching while helping the cause at the plate with a .387 batting average, leading the Cardinals with six runs and belting out two two doubles while driving in a pait of runs.
-Â Not to be overshadowed, Maryssa Becker struck out nine and scattered two hits in 5.2 inning against Iowa. Becker has allowed six hits, one run and one error in nine innnings pitched.
-Â Nicole Pufahl leads Louisville in hitting with five hits, three runs and six RBIs for a batting average of .455.
ALL-TIME VS. NC STATE
The two contests will be the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and the two teams
LOWDOWN ON NC STATE
- The Wolfpack opened up the season at the Jacksonville Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. where NC State went 3-2.
- NC State won their first two games against Coastal Carolina and Kansas allowing each team to score only one run apiece.Â
- In a heartbreaking turn of events, the Wolfpack lost by one run in the next two gaem agaisnt UNCG and Jacksonville after both contests went into extra innnings.
BADGER CONNECTIONS
-Â Tracie Adix-Zins, a former Wisconsin assistant coach, joins the North Carolina State University coaching staff in her first year as an assistant coach
-Â Prior to NC State, she spent a year as the pitching coach for Oklahoma State University. In the lone season she helped a young pitching staff throw seven complete game shutouts and finish the year with the second-fewest walks in the Big 12 Conference.
-Â Adix-Zins spent four seasons as the pitching coach at Wisconsin helping the Badgers compile a 144-75 record during her tenure, highlighted by the program's first-ever Big 10 Tournament title in 2013.
-Â UW's pitching staff finshed the 2013 season with an ERA of 1.96, the fourth-best ins chool history and best 2002, during which the pitching staff threw three no-hitters, the most in a single season for the program and first no-hitter in the last 12 seasons.
-Â In all, Adix-Zins guided Wisconsin pitchers to nine Big 10 PPitcher/Freshman of the Week honors, five All-Region selections, three All-Big 10 accolades and one Big 10 Tournament MVP honor.
2015-16 TEAM INFO
Starters Returning/Lost: 8/4 | Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 11/8
- The 2015-16 Badgers return 11 letterwinners and eight starters, including the team's leaders in slugging percentage, on base percentage, RBI, doubles, home runs, total bases and walks.
- Wisconsin returns 53.1 percent of its runs scored, 49.9 percent of its hitting and 61.0 percent of its RBI production from last season.
- Eight members of the 2014-15 Wisconsin softball team earned NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2014-15 academic year.
