MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin softball hits the road for the third weekend in a row, this time going to Palm Springs, California for the Mary Nutter Classic. The Badgers will face Auburn and Oklahoma State on Thursday, Fresno State on Friday, Missouri and San Jose State on Saturday and end the tournament against Washington on Sunday.
Washington is ranked first in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and third in the ESPN/USA Softball poll. OSU is No. 18 in the coaches' poll and No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Softball rankings. Auburn is No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll and Fresno State was receiving votes last week and Missouri is receiving votes this week.

1. WEEKEND RECAP: The Badgers gave the Big Ten two wins in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, going 2-2 on the weekend against Pittsburgh and North Carolina. UW defeated Pittsburgh in the opening game, 5-1, and outhit the Panthers 6-5. The Badgers dropped their next two to Pitt (6-5) and North Carolina (9-7). Wisconsin came back to blank UNC on Sunday, 6-0, and outhit them 8-5.

2. CROSSED OFF: Junior Melanie Cross had an explosive weekend, knocking out three home runs, including the second grand slam of her career. She had nearly triple the RBI of any other player on the team. In addition, she had a great weekend behind the place accounting for 30 putouts and three assists, while also catching two runners stealing.

3. BIG BATS: The Badger bats were swinging away this weekend, collecting a tournament-leading 23 runs off of 29 hits, including seven doubles and four home runs. Four Badgers had a slugging percentage above .500 and seven had an on-base percentage above .333. In addition to Cross, seniors Kelsey Jenkins and Brooke Wyderski had great weekends, leading the team with six hits apiece and each notching two doubles. Wyderski, who had a hit in all four games, knocked out a home run that helped lead UW to its Sunday get-away win. Both Wyderski and Jenkins reached base in all four games, while Jenkins had a team-leading three multiple-hit games in the tournament. Cross, Jenkins and Wyderski are all averaging at least 1.0 hit per game this season.

4. FULL CIRCLE: Wisconsin used all four members of its pitching staff last weekend. Sophomore Kaitlyn Menz picked up both of the wins for the Cardinal and White over the weekend, including her first shutout of the season, a 6-0 victory against UNC on Sunday. The Iowa native had a 1.24 ERA on the weekend and struck out 15 batters in 17.0 innings.
The pitching staff had great support from a solid defense. UW only had three errors in four games with 90 putouts. The Badgers turned three double plays, with Jenkins and Wyderski combining for two of them.

5. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
-Oklahoma State (8-2):
Series History: OSU leads 3-0
Neutral Site: OSU leads 2-0
Last time: March 8, 2012: OSU 1, UW 0

Oklahoma State is off to a hot start with eight wins on the season, marking the first time since 2011 that the Cowgirls have started off at least 8-2 in their first 10 games. OSU has gone 4-1 in both of its tournaments this season. The Cowgirls lost both of their tournament openers, an 8-2 loss to Oregon State (receiving votes) and a 5-1 loss to No. 10 Tennessee. They are led by senior Vanessa Shippy, who is a two-time third-team All-American.

-Auburn (13-0):
Series History: UW leads 2-1
Neutral Site: UW leads 2-1
Last time: Feb. 14, 2010: UW 7, AU 0

Auburn will be one of the biggest challenges of the weekend, entering the tournament with a 13-0 record. Six of their players have double-digit hits in 12 games already. Junior pitcher Makayla Martin had the first no-hitter of her career and senior Kaylee Carlson had a combined one-hit effort to lead No. 13 Auburn to two shutouts last weekend. Martin and Washington's Taran Alvelo lead the nation with .00 ERAs. Auburn ranks third in the country with a .26 ERA and Washington is fourth with a .29 ERA.

-Fresno State (7-3):
Series History: FSU leads 5-3
Neutral Site: FSU leads 5-3
Last time: March 5, 2016: UW 4, FSU 0

Two of Fresno State's three losses were to ranked teams, falling to No. 7 Arizona, 13-1, and to No. 3 Oregon, 8-0, in the same weekend. Otherwise, it's been smooth sailing for the Bulldogs who are on a three-game win streak and averaging 1.2 home runs per game, which ranks 22nd in the nation.

-Missouri (6-5):
Series History: Series tied 2-2
Neutral Site: UW leads 2-0
Last time: May 19, 2017: UW 7, Mizzou 2

The Badgers and Tigers will match up again after facing in the Eugene Regional in the NCAA tournament last season. Missouri is coming off of a 4-2 weekend at the Michele Smith Invitational. Mizzou defeated FAU 7-2 and followed with an exciting walk-off victory in extra innings against USF.

-San Jose State (8-2):
Series History: UW leads 3-2
Neutral Site: UW leads 3-2
Last time: March 16, 2012: SJSU 9, UW 0

San Jose State is off to a spectacular start with an 8-2 record after going 4-1 in both tournaments it has been to thus far. The Spartans' only losses have been to No. 11 Tennessee (7-6) and Iowa State (12-4). They have two wins over two Big Ten teams: Purdue (11-1) and Indiana (2-1).

-Washington (10-0):
Series History: Washington leads 3-0
Neutral Site: Wash leads 3-0
Last time: March 7, 2014: Wash 4, UW 2

Washington ranks in the top five in the country in six categories: Batting average (1st - .449), ERA (4th - .29), home runs per game (2nd- 2.56), on-base percentage (1st-.539), scoring (1st-1.44) and slugging percentage (1st-.842). The Huskies have scored no less than seven runs a game to maintain their undefeated record and are averaging 11.6 runs per game.