Five Things to Know: FAU First Pitch Classic
February 06, 2020 | Softball
Badgers kick off the season in the sunshine state
MADISON, WIS. – The UW softball team heads to Boca Raton, Florida to open their 2020 season in the FAU First Pitch Classic. The Badgers will first face Indiana State University at 3:45 p.m. and FAU at 6 p.m. on Friday. The following day UW will play Bethune-Cookman University at 9 a.m. and NIU at 1:30 p.m. To close out their weekend, Wisconsin will play a second game against Bethune-Cookman at 11:15 a.m.
1. LOOKING AHEAD: The 2020 season is jam-packed with some of the top talent in the country. The Badgers will play in five preseason tournaments, 16 home games and the Big Ten Tournament in Champaign, Ill. UW will play 24 games against 2019 NCAA Tournament teams, including five of those games against 2019 NCAA World Series teams.
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2. IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK: The Badger softball team will be returning 13 players from the 2019 roster where the team had its second-most wins in program history and was the fastest team to 30 wins. For the first time in program history, UW had three consecutive NCAA bids and are looking to keep the streak going.
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3. KAYLA'S KORNER: One of the 13 returners is Big Ten Player of the Year and power hitter for the Badgers, Kayla Konwent. After coming off a hot junior season, Konwent looks just as promising heading into her senior year. USA Softball's Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watchlist, Softball America's pre-season First Team All-America and 2020 Top 100 College Players (No. 9) and D1 Softball's Second Team All-America have all included Konwent in their pre-season rankings.
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4. TOP TIER: Wisconsin is starting the season ranked in some of the nation's top polls. Those include No. 25 in USA Today, No. 23 by ESPN and USA Softball, No. 19 by FloSoftball, No. 21 by Softball America and No. 24 by D1 Softball.
5 SCOUTINGÂ REPORT: Indiana State University - The Sycamores are coming off a 2019 season with an overall record of 19-35 and a Missouri Valley Conference Record of 5-21. Senior Leslie Sims will be an offensive threat this season. In 2019, she was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team as well as the NFCA All-Region team. Sims led Indiana State with a .400 batting average and recorded 72 hits on the year, ranking second in the Valley.
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FAU - The Florida Atlantic Owls went 20-30, and 7-17 in Conference USA play for the 2019 season. The team is led by returning senior outfielder, Fayth Davis. Davis leads the team in batting average (.389), slugging percentage (.593), on-base percentage (.457) and doubles (15).
NIU - The Huskies finished the 2019 season with a 27-25 overall record and 11-9 record in the MAC, placing them in the middle of the pack in conference standings at the end of the season. Northern Illinois returns sophomore, Katie Keller, who was a member of the Schutt Sports/NFCA D-I Freshman Top 25 list and earned First Team All-MAC playing catcher and first base. Keller led the nation in doubles per game and led her team in four offensive categories.
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Bethune-Cookman - The Wildcats are returning after a 2019 season where they were the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champions and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for their second year in a row. The team went 26-30 for an overall record and 13-2 in conference play. Two-time MEACÂ First Team All-Conference player, Jacki Smith suffered a season-ending injury last year and will be playing in her senior season as an infielder for Bethune-Cookman. Before her injury, she had 10 multi-hit games and finished with a .333 batting average.
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2. IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK: The Badger softball team will be returning 13 players from the 2019 roster where the team had its second-most wins in program history and was the fastest team to 30 wins. For the first time in program history, UW had three consecutive NCAA bids and are looking to keep the streak going.
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3. KAYLA'S KORNER: One of the 13 returners is Big Ten Player of the Year and power hitter for the Badgers, Kayla Konwent. After coming off a hot junior season, Konwent looks just as promising heading into her senior year. USA Softball's Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watchlist, Softball America's pre-season First Team All-America and 2020 Top 100 College Players (No. 9) and D1 Softball's Second Team All-America have all included Konwent in their pre-season rankings.
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4. TOP TIER: Wisconsin is starting the season ranked in some of the nation's top polls. Those include No. 25 in USA Today, No. 23 by ESPN and USA Softball, No. 19 by FloSoftball, No. 21 by Softball America and No. 24 by D1 Softball.
5 SCOUTINGÂ REPORT: Indiana State University - The Sycamores are coming off a 2019 season with an overall record of 19-35 and a Missouri Valley Conference Record of 5-21. Senior Leslie Sims will be an offensive threat this season. In 2019, she was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team as well as the NFCA All-Region team. Sims led Indiana State with a .400 batting average and recorded 72 hits on the year, ranking second in the Valley.
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FAU - The Florida Atlantic Owls went 20-30, and 7-17 in Conference USA play for the 2019 season. The team is led by returning senior outfielder, Fayth Davis. Davis leads the team in batting average (.389), slugging percentage (.593), on-base percentage (.457) and doubles (15).
NIU - The Huskies finished the 2019 season with a 27-25 overall record and 11-9 record in the MAC, placing them in the middle of the pack in conference standings at the end of the season. Northern Illinois returns sophomore, Katie Keller, who was a member of the Schutt Sports/NFCA D-I Freshman Top 25 list and earned First Team All-MAC playing catcher and first base. Keller led the nation in doubles per game and led her team in four offensive categories.
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Bethune-Cookman - The Wildcats are returning after a 2019 season where they were the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champions and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for their second year in a row. The team went 26-30 for an overall record and 13-2 in conference play. Two-time MEACÂ First Team All-Conference player, Jacki Smith suffered a season-ending injury last year and will be playing in her senior season as an infielder for Bethune-Cookman. Before her injury, she had 10 multi-hit games and finished with a .333 batting average.
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