Five Things to Know: UW wraps up regular season against Purdue

Friday, May 14

Madison, WI

3 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Purdue

Photo by: Allison Minisce

Five Things to Know: UW wraps up regular season against Purdue

May 12, 2021 | Softball

The Badgers will celebrate their seniors this weekend

By: AJ Harrison

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin softball team wraps up the 2021 regular season with a home series against Purdue at Goodman Diamond. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m. while Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale are both set for noon starts.

The Badgers will honor its 2020 senior class of Kayla Konwent, Kaitlyn Menz, Stephanie Lombardo, Jordan Little, Caroline Hedgcock and Heather Rudnicki prior to Saturday's doubleheader while UW will honor seniors Haley Hestekin and Lauren Foster prior to Sunday's finale.

There are no tickets for sale or general fans permitted at the Goodman Softball Complex at this time, but fans can watch the Badgers in action live on Big Ten Network+, listen to the games on WSUM and follow the action on Twitter (@BadgerSoftball).

1. LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers are coming off of a split at Michigan State last weekend. UW earned its second extra-inning win of the year, a 4-2 win on Saturday before claiming a 3-0 shutout on Sunday. Maddie Schwartz had 11 strikeouts on Sunday while Lauren Foster had a three-run home run in Sunday's triumph.

2. MAGNIFICENT MADDIE: Wisconsin junior Maddie Schwartz has been stellar for UW as she holds an 8-2 record during the Badgers' last four weekends. She has six complete games during that stretch and has 54 strikeouts and has allowed only 10 earned runs over 60 1/3 innings of work. On the season, Schwartz ranks second in the Big Ten Conference in innings pitched with 140.0 while she ranks in the top-10 in the league in wins (10), complete games (12) and strikeouts (101).

3. OLYMPIC DREAMS: Former Wisconsin softball standout Kelsey (Jenkins) Harshman will make history this summer at the 2020 Olympic Summer Games as the Delta, British Columbia, native will become the first Badger softball player to play in the Olympics. Harshman was named to Canada's 15-player roster on Wednesday as the sport makes a return to the Olympics after not being a contest at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics. A first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2016 and 2018, Harshman ranks third in school history in batting average with a .369 career clip while her .527 on-base percentage ranks second at UW.

4. AGAINST PURDUE: Although UW trails the all-time series with Purdue 32-27, UW has a 15-13 record against the Boilermakers in Madison and have won the last six meetings with Purdue. Senior Haley Hestekin has four career wins against the Boilermakers, including three during her freshman campaign while Lauren Foster has six career RBI against Purdue.

5. TOP CLASSES: Wisconsin will honor a pair of fantastic senior classes during its weekend series against the Boilermakers. The 2020 Senior Class was the only class in school history with three NCAA tournament appearances, including six victories in the big dance. The group earned a 121-64 record and went 37-28 in three seasons of Big Ten Conference play. Headlining the group was Kayla Konwent, who was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2019 and was a first-team All-American that season.

The 2021 Senior Class has also been an incredible group as Haley Hestekin and Lauren Foster have a 97-66 record and led UW to a pair of NCAA tournaments. They earned four wins in NCAA tournament play and helped the Badgers advance to the NCAA Regional Championship in 2019.