Badgers host Hawkeyes in three-game series

Friday, April 7

6 P.M.

Wisconsin Badgers

Iowa

Tickets

Photo by: Kelli Steffes

Badgers host Hawkeyes in three-game series

April 06, 2017 | Softball

Iowa game notes Three Takeaways: Iowa

Wisconsin looks to claim first home victory

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin softball team couldn't overcome its defensive struggles, dropping three games to Nebraska in the team's home opener at Goodman Diamond, March 31-April 2. The Badgers (23-6 overall, 2-4 B1G) return to Goodman with another Big Ten matchup, hosting Iowa (8-21, 2-4) for a weekend series, April 7-9.

Games 30-32 \| vs. Iowa
Dates	Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.
Location	Goodman Diamond \| Madison, Wis.
Mobile App	Badger Gameday
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Watch Live	Friday Saturday Sunday
Social Media	@BadgerSoftball \| Facebook
Game Notes	Wisconsin Get Adobe Acrobat Reader \| Iowa
Tickets	Buy Tickets

AROUND THE HORN

Live statistics for the weekend's games will be available on UWBadgers.com and a full recap will be available after the day's games. In addition, live updates can be found on Twitter (@BadgerSoftball).
Iowa leads the all-time series 35-17, however the Badgers have gone 10-7 under head coach Yvette Healy, taking the series last season with a pair of close wins.
A three-run home run from Chloe Miller in the Badgers' opener with Iowa last season helped lift UW to its first win in the series, 5-4. But a sixth-inning comeback in the final tie-breaking game of the series capped off a thrilling winning weekend for the Badgers. Melanie Cross, Gabby Scherle and Kelly Welsh scored the go-ahead runs for UW in the 3-1 win over Iowa.
Through the first half of the season senior Chloe Miller has racked up the highest batting average in the nation at .511, as well as leading the conference in slugging percentage (.913) and on base percentage (.602). Miller has scored 37 runs and tallied 47 hits, both ranking second in the conference, as well as 35 RBI, 12 doubles and seven home runs.
Miller, who also ranks third in the nation in on base percentage (.602) and runs per game (1.28), leads Wisconsin in multiple hit games (15), multiple RBI games (10) and has the longest hitting streak of the season (14).
Junior Kelsey Jenkins currently holds the longest reached base streak of any player, reaching in the last 21 games. Additionally, Jenkins ranks seventh in the country with 0.97 walks per game and 20th with a .538 on base percentage.
Freshman Kaitlyn Menz and senior Kirsten Stevens continue to be a dynamic duo at the mound, pitching a combined 176.2 innings and allowing just 48 earned runs, giving the UW pitching staff the fourth-best ERA (2.32) in the Big Ten.
Junior Kelsey Jenkins had a spectacular spring break, recording two runs in each game against Northwestern. She also had six hits in the four games on the week with an RBI in each game. She had one home run against Northwestern and held a .556 batting average and .889 slugging percentage in the first conference series. She also drew a team-leading four walks.

SCOUTING REPORT

Iowa: The Hawkeyes enter the contest 8-21 overall and 2-4 in conference play. They hold a .276 winning percentage overall but a .333 conference winning percentage.
Iowa is currently on a two-game winning streak and is 2-4 in road games so far this season.
The Hawkeyes clinched the series against Purdue by winning out the last two games with a 5-0 shutout and an 8-3 victory.
In their 8-3 win, four separate Hawkeyes recorded two RBI apiece. Allie wood logged a double while Brooke Rozier hit out a big home run. Elizabeth Wiegand had the win for the Hawkeyes after dealing 5.1 innings with three strikeouts. Freshman Allison Doocy had the 5-0 shutout for the Hawkeyes with a complete game, giving up just six hits but striking out six Boilermakers. Wood had her first of two doubles on the weekend in the shutout.
Shayla Starkenburg leads Iowa with a 2.34 ERA and a 3-7 record. She suffered both the losses to UW last year, allowing 11 hits, eight runs but striking out eight Badger batters.
All Mullarkey: Kaitlyn Mullarkey leads Iowa in nearly every category. She leads in hits (20), RBIs (12), doubles (7), and hit by pitches (10). Defensively, she leads the team in putouts with 174. She has reached base in 13 consecutive games and leads the team with five multi-hit games.
Gotta catch Pratt: Cheyenne Pratt is 6-for-6 in stolen bases this season. She has made an appearance in every game for Iowa this season and has started in 24 games.
Beware of the double play: The Hawkeyes lead the conference in turning double plays per game with a 0.62 average per game.
Thompson sacrifices: Lea Thompson leads the conference in sacrifice hits per game (0.46).

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT YOU'RE OUR HERO?
Freshman Kaitlyn Menz is nominated for the Hero Sports News Freshman of the Year at this point of the season. She is leading all nominees by a landslide. The polls close on Tuesday, April 11 and fans can vote here.

WHO'S ON FIRST?
Freshman Stephanie Lombardo has been solid holding down first base and leads the Big Ten in putouts (237) and also ranks second for turning 12 double plays this year.

WHY NOT WYDERSKI?
Brooke Wyderski has notched at least one hit in 10 of the last 11 games. The junior transfer is currently on a four-game hitting streak for the Badgers. She ranks 14th in the nation with 1.21 runs batted in per game. She also ranks 38th in the country and sixth in the conference for her 0.34 doubles per game. Wyderski is fifth in the country with 35 RBI on the season. Her .660 slugging percentage rates 10th in the league.