Friday, March 4
Fort Collins, CO
11 AM
Wisconsin Badgers
at
Colorado State
Photo by: Victoria Dombeck
Five Things to Know: Badgers head west for Colorado Classic
March 01, 2022 | Softball
UW to face St. Mary’s, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Utah Valley this weekend
MADISON, Wis. – After opening its season with a pair of trips to Florida, the Wisconsin softball team will head west for the first time to the Colorado Classic, hosted by Colorado State and Northern Colorado.
UW will play Utah Valley tand Colorado State on Friday in Fort Collins, Colorado before heading to Greeley, Colorado, to play Saint Mary's College and Northern Colorado on Saturday.
1. LAST TIME OUT: UW is coming off of earning two ranked wins at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational two weeks ago in Clearwater, Florida. UW earned wins against No. 24 UCF, RV Notre Dame and No. 14 Clemson during the four-day tournament that aired on the ESPN family of networks. Playing against some of the top teams in the nation, Wisconsin proved its belonged among the conversation as the Badgers have now been receiving votes in the rankings for two consecutive weeks. A dominant performance this weekend could edge them into the top 25 before Big Ten play starts up at the end of March.
2. HISTORY IN THE ROCKIES: This marks the first time since 2017 that the Badgers have played in Colorado as UW took part in the Colorado State Classic. UW won that tournament with a 5-0 record and outscored its opponents 53-14 during the five-game tournament.
3. BADGER BALANCE: Coming into the new season, one of Wisconsin's biggest question marks was how much they were going to grow from experience based on last year's young roster. Through the first two tournaments, the Badgers have seen balance among the classes including two of the top offensive producers for Wisconsin being underclassmen and the other two being veteran players. Sophomore Skylar Sirdashney leads the way for Wisconsin with a .357 batting average including five RBI's and a homerun on the season. Follwing in second and third place on the Badger roster are seniors Kayla Konwent and Ally Miklesh. Konwent has not been shy in her college softball return, posting a .355 average through two weekends and Miklesh leads the team in on base percentage with a .516 clip. Rounding out the Badger leaders is Freshman Ellie Hubbard who has been a great addition to the Wisconsin lineup averaging .286.
4. SCOUTING THE COLORADO CLASSIC: After two opening weekend packed full of ranked teams and tough contests, the Badgers will see its first day of competition not against a ranked opponent all season in its first day out west. Nonetheless, all four teams the Badgers will be facing have played three weekends of softball compared to Wisconsin coming off of a bye weekend. The Badgers will open up the tournaments against Saint Mary's (5-10) and Colorado State (6-9) while going on to play Utah Valley (5-5) and Northern Colorado (4-10) in a Saturday doubleheader. Wrapping up the weekend, the Badgers will take on Northern Colorado once more Sunday morning. Looking ahead to the weekend weather, Colorado weather is a little less comparable to Florida weather and more so what the Badges are used to in Madison, but stay tuned for any weather updates via @badgersoftball on Twitter.
5. UP NEXT: UW will return to the Rockies next week for an extended trip in Utah. UW will take part in the Dixie State Tournament March 11-13 in St. George, Utah, before heading north to Salt Lake City to play a three-game series against Utah March 15-16.
UW will play Utah Valley tand Colorado State on Friday in Fort Collins, Colorado before heading to Greeley, Colorado, to play Saint Mary's College and Northern Colorado on Saturday.
1. LAST TIME OUT: UW is coming off of earning two ranked wins at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational two weeks ago in Clearwater, Florida. UW earned wins against No. 24 UCF, RV Notre Dame and No. 14 Clemson during the four-day tournament that aired on the ESPN family of networks. Playing against some of the top teams in the nation, Wisconsin proved its belonged among the conversation as the Badgers have now been receiving votes in the rankings for two consecutive weeks. A dominant performance this weekend could edge them into the top 25 before Big Ten play starts up at the end of March.
2. HISTORY IN THE ROCKIES: This marks the first time since 2017 that the Badgers have played in Colorado as UW took part in the Colorado State Classic. UW won that tournament with a 5-0 record and outscored its opponents 53-14 during the five-game tournament.
3. BADGER BALANCE: Coming into the new season, one of Wisconsin's biggest question marks was how much they were going to grow from experience based on last year's young roster. Through the first two tournaments, the Badgers have seen balance among the classes including two of the top offensive producers for Wisconsin being underclassmen and the other two being veteran players. Sophomore Skylar Sirdashney leads the way for Wisconsin with a .357 batting average including five RBI's and a homerun on the season. Follwing in second and third place on the Badger roster are seniors Kayla Konwent and Ally Miklesh. Konwent has not been shy in her college softball return, posting a .355 average through two weekends and Miklesh leads the team in on base percentage with a .516 clip. Rounding out the Badger leaders is Freshman Ellie Hubbard who has been a great addition to the Wisconsin lineup averaging .286.
4. SCOUTING THE COLORADO CLASSIC: After two opening weekend packed full of ranked teams and tough contests, the Badgers will see its first day of competition not against a ranked opponent all season in its first day out west. Nonetheless, all four teams the Badgers will be facing have played three weekends of softball compared to Wisconsin coming off of a bye weekend. The Badgers will open up the tournaments against Saint Mary's (5-10) and Colorado State (6-9) while going on to play Utah Valley (5-5) and Northern Colorado (4-10) in a Saturday doubleheader. Wrapping up the weekend, the Badgers will take on Northern Colorado once more Sunday morning. Looking ahead to the weekend weather, Colorado weather is a little less comparable to Florida weather and more so what the Badges are used to in Madison, but stay tuned for any weather updates via @badgersoftball on Twitter.
5. UP NEXT: UW will return to the Rockies next week for an extended trip in Utah. UW will take part in the Dixie State Tournament March 11-13 in St. George, Utah, before heading north to Salt Lake City to play a three-game series against Utah March 15-16.
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