Wisconsin Badgers
Indiana University
Wisconsin geared up for Big Ten tournament
May 11, 2016 | Softball
Badgers take on Hoosiers at 7 pm
B1G SHOW
The Wisconsin softball team drew the No. 8 seed in the 2016 Big Ten Softball tournament and is set to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday night. All games will be played at Nittany Lion Softball Park in State College, Pennsylvania.
| Games 53 | Wisconsin vs. Indiana - Big Ten Tournament | |
| Date | Thursday, May 12 | 7 p.m. (CT) |
| Location | State College, PA. | Nittany Lion Softball Park |
| TV | Big Ten Network |
| Follow | Live Stats | Twitter |
| Notes | Wisconsin | Indiana |
DETAILS FROM THE DUGOUT
1 BADGERS ON THE B1G STAGE: Wisconsin is 6-8 in the Big Ten Tournament and won its only tournament in 2013, the senior class' freshman season. UW has played in six Big Ten tournaments, the tournament resumed action in 2013 after play stopped in 2008.
2 LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers battled Nebraska in a doubleheader where both games went into extra innings and lasted a total of 23 innings and seven and a half hours. UW took the first game 6-4, but dropped the second game after a walkoff home run gave the Huskers a 6-5 win.
3 HOOSIER HISTORY: Wisconsin leads the all-time series against Indiana 24-15 but the series is tied 1-1 at neutral sites.
4 TOP TRIO: Fresh off completing its fourth-best conference season in program history, the Wisconsin softball team had three players earn All-Big Ten honors. Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins was named first-team All-Big Ten, while senior pitcher Taylor-Paige Stewart was placed on the second team and senior Ashley Van Zeeland was recognized as the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
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 BANNER YEAR: Wisconsin already is having one of its best seasons in program history. UW is tied for fifth in single-season records with a .280 batting average, fourth is .283. The 2016 team is fourth in on base percentage with .382, while the top mark is .389.
7 HANG TEN: Wisconsin picked up its 10th Big Ten win of the season against Northwestern on May 1, marking just the eighth time in program history that a team has reached the 10-or-more conference win mark.The 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016 teams are the only teams to reach 10-or-more Big Ten wins.
8 KJ ALL DAY: Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins leads the Badgers with a .411 batting average that ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 63rd in the country. Jenkins ranks first in the Big Ten with 49 walks and second for her .571 on base percentage. Jenkins ranks seventh in the nation for her 49 walks and eighth in the nation with a .571 on base percentage. She also leads UW in multiple hit games with 12 two-hit games, three three-hit games and one four-hit game for 16 total multiple hit games.
9 SENIOR STUDS: The 2016 senior class is tied for the third-most wins in school history with 129 wins in their careers. They also have the third-best winning percentage in school history with a .597 (129-87) 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 CHLOE MILLER...AT YOUR SERVICE: Junior Chloe Miller is sixth in the conference for her team-leading 51 RBI.
WISCONSIN vs. INDIANA
- The Hoosiers will play in the Big Ten Softball tournament for the third straight season and the sixth time in program history.
- The last time the two teams saw each other, Wisconsin swept the series 3-0, including a 12-1 run-rule victory.
- The Badgers' 12-1 win over Indiana marked head coach Yvette Healy's 100th win at the helm of the Badgers' program. Healy became the fastest coach in school history to reach the 100 win mark and the only coach to post three consecutive 30+ win seasons.
SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
- The Hoosiers wrapped up the regular season at Maryland over the weekend, taking the series with a pair of wins. On Saturday, Indiana swept the doubleheader, 8-3 and 12-1 (five innings). The Terrapins took the final game of the series on Sunday, 10-8.
- Senior Michelle Huber earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday after she hit .571 with a 1.857 slugging percentage on the weekend, scoring seven runs while also driving in seven on three home runs. In Friday's 12-1 win against the Terrapins, she smacked a career-high two home runs, both three-run shots to tally six RBI, tied for second-most in a single game in program history.
- Her big weekend at the plate came after knocking her second career grand slam in Indiana's 5-3 win against Ohio State last Sunday, making it four homers in four games for Huber.
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.
