Wisconsin softball hosts Northwestern in final home series
April 28, 2016 | Softball
Badgers to honor senior class on Sunday in pregame ceremony
HOME STRETCH
The Badgers close out their slate at Goodman Diamond with their home series finale against Northwestern at 3 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Friday's game against Northwestern will be live on the Big Ten Network and Sunday's game is the annual Senior Day. UW will celebrate its four seniors: Katie Christner, Macy Oswald, Taylor-Paige Stewart and Ashley Van Zeeland.
| Games 47/48/49 | Wisconsin vs. Northwestern | |
| Date | Friday, April 29 | 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday, April 30 | 2 p.m. (CT) Sunday, May 1 | 1 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | Madison, Wis. | Goodman Diamond |
| Watch | BTN2GO | Friday, Saturday. Sunday |
| Follow | Live Stats | Twitter |
| Notes | Wisconsin Get Adobe Acrobat Reader | Northwestern |
DETAILS FROM THE DUGOUT
1 CATS HISTORY: The all-time series between the two teams is led by Northwestern 30-16 with the Wildcats leading in all locations.The last time the two teams saw each other was on March 28, 2015 where UW lost both games in the doubleheader, 19-0 and 14-6, falling in five innings in each game at Evanston, Illinois, but UW has gone 5-4 against NU in their last nine meetings. Junior Sara Novak had two hits including a home run the last time she saw NU's Kristen Wood as a freshman.
2 LAST TIME OUT: After falling short in its last game to Illinois, the Wisconsin softball team rebounded in a big way on Tuesday during its doubleheader against in-state rival, Green Bay. The Badgers dispatched the Phoenix 8-0 in back-to-back run-rule victories. The last time Wisconsin earned back-to-back shutouts was in 2013, when UW defeated Iowa on March 29 and 30, 8-0 and 3-0, respectively. It marked the fourth time that Wisconsin has had back-to-back shutout wins against the Phoenix. Senior pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart anchored the Badgers defense, striking out nine batters in the first game alone, tying her season high, before retiring five more batters in game two against the Phoenix. UW outhit Green Bay 19-3 through both games as junior Sara Novak notched a team-high four hits through three games while junior Chloe Miller had three hits, including a home run.
3 MOVING ON UP: Wisconsin is 69th in the latest RPI and has compiled eight wins over teams that currently rank in the top 50 while playing 12 top-50 RPI teams.
4 WALK THIS WAY: UW ranks third in the Big Ten conference with a team total of 164 walks this season while sophomore Kelsey Jenkins rates sixth in the nation and first in the conference for her 44 walks this season. Jenkins surpassed her own single-season record and set a new Wisconsin record with 44 walks in a single season. She also ranks seventh in the nation and second in the Big Ten for her .580 on base percentage.
5 CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: Wisconsin's five wins over ranked opponents ranks as the second-most wins over ranked foes in a single season in school history. UW tallied six ranked wins in 2014 for the most ranked wins in program history.
6 SHE'S ACES: Senior Taylor-Paige Stewart had a season-high nine strikeouts against both Iowa and Green Bay. With 124 strikeouts on the season, she has now had three 100-plus strikeout seasons in her UW career
7 GOT TO GOODMAN: On Wisconsin's annual Get to Goodman event, UW had 1,242 fans attend the Badgers' game against Illinois. It was the fourth-highest attendance on record in program history.
8 KJ ALL DAY: Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins leads the Badgers with a .411 batting average and ranks third in the Big Ten and 76th in the country. Jenkins ranks first in the Big Ten with 44 walks and second for her .580 on base percentage. Jenkins ranks sixth in the nation for her 44 walks and seventh in the nation with a .570 on base percentage. She also leads UW in multiple hit games with 10 two-hit games, two three-hit games and one four-hit game for 13 total multiple hit games.
9 SENIOR STUDS: The 2016 senior class is tied for the fourth-most wins in school history with 127 wins in their careers. They also have the third-best winning percentage in school history with a .605 (127-83) winning rate.They have compiled 15 ranked wins in their careers and have gone to two NCAA tournaments and two Big Ten tournaments. They were a part of the Badgers' historic Big Ten tournament win in 2013.
10 WHAT A SACRIFICE: Wisconsin ranks third in the conference for its 33 sacrifice bunts and fifth for its 11 sacrifice flies. Senior Ashley Van Zeeland leads the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts in all games (9) and conference-only games (7). She ranks 52nd out of 150 ranked players for her sacrifice hits.
WISCONSIN vs. NORTHWESTERN
- The all-time series between the two teams is led by Northwestern 30-16 with the Wildcats leading in all locations.
- The last time the two teams saw each other was on March 28, 2015 where UW lost both games in the doubleheader, 19-0 and 14-6, falling in five innings in each game at Evanston, Illinois.
- Despite going 5-4 against Northwestern in its last five meetings, Wisconsin dropped both games in Evanston last season.
- UW has a deep history with NU pitcher Kristen Wood and Amy Letourneau. Wisconsin had just one hit against Wood last season but put up seven against Letourneau. Van Zeeland, Miller and Stewart were the only current Badgers to get hits against Letourneau. Jenkins drew a total of three walks against both pitchers. UW held a .063 batting average against Wood in 2015 but had a .261 average against her in 2014.
- Junior Sara Novak had two hits including a home run the last time she saw Wood as a freshman. Junior Chloe Miller knocked in a triple against Wood as a freshman in 2014.
SCOUTING THE CATS
- On Wednesday, Northwestern defeated Loyola (Chicago) in run-rule fashion at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to close out a 13-game homestand, but more importantly the victory was the 500th in the careers of head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan. The duo has led the Northwestern program since the retirement of NFCA Hall of Fame coach Sharon J. Drysdale prior to the 2002 season. NU is the only school in the Big Ten and one of just a handful nationwide to have had two coaches reach 500 wins at the same school.
- The Wildcats saw its six-game Big Ten winning streak come to an end against Nebraska after they suffered three loses, including a marathon 11-9 defeat in 11 innings.
- With the help of a doubleheader sweep at Illinois, NU climbed a spot in the NCAA RPI to No. 48 thanks to having one of the nation's toughest schedules to date.
ALL ABOUT THE BADGERS
- 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 scor, 49.9 percent of its hitting and 61.0 percent of its RBI production from last season.
- The Badgers welcome a new pitching coach in Kirsten Verdun, who played professionally for one year with the Chicago Bandits and was a two-time All-American at DePaul University.
- The Badgers went 3-1 in the fall exhibition season with doubleheader wins over Green Bay and a split with Northern Illinois.
- Eight members of the 2014-15 Wisconsin softball team earned NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2014-15 academic year.
- UW will face four teams ranked in the Preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. Wisconsin also faces six teams that received votes in the preseason rankings.
