MADISON, Wis. - Following a weekend trip to Atlanta, the Wisconsin softball team will hit the road once again for another tournament challenge. This time, the Badgers will head back down to warm weather in Boca Raton, Florida. 

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW:

 1. LAST TIME OUT: The ACC/Big Ten challenge was a great opportunity for Wisconsin to face two great teams that won't be seen in conference play. Georgia Tech and Louisville were the opponents that the Badgers went up against in the span of three days where the team split the results by going 2-2. Georgia Tech proved to be the team that the Badgers were able to play best against as Wisconsin won 6-3 and 6-1 in its two matchups. Louisville tripped the Badgers up in both games, although they were close, losing 2-0 and 2-1. 

2. HOME RUN HEROES: Four different players blasted the ball over the fence for Wisconsin this past weekend to boost the Badger offense. In the first game of the tournament, six home runs were hit - three of those coming from Badgers. Katie Keller hit her first dinger for Wisconsin in the third inning against the Yellow Jackets to give the team a 1-0 lead. In the seventh inning of the same game, freshman Ava Kuszak went yard for the first time in her career at Wisconsin to give the Badgers the lead after Georgia Tech had tied things up with two home runs in the sixth. Kayla Konwent then hit a home run, her first of the year, in the same inning following a walk by Keller to score the both of them and secure the win at 6-3. Brooke Kuffel then sent a long ball over the wall in the next game against Georgia Tech for the first time this season to grab a 3-0 lead early. 

3. TALENTED TRANSFER: Katie Keller has lived up to her hype as she remains the team's hottest hitter at the moment. The graduate senior currently has a hit streak of four games as she put the ball in play each game this past weekend. Sitting in the one spot in the batting order, the Badger leader has accumulated .364 batting average, .444 on-base percentage, and a slugging percentage of .545. Keller ranked sixth in all of Division 1 softball last year in doubles at NIU and second in doubles per game.

4. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: While in Boca Raton, the Badgers will face four different opponents over three days. The team will start against Florida Atlantic University on Thursday, Feb. 24 for the first time since Feb. 7, 2020, when the Badgers won 5-1. The team is currently 5-5 and is led by Zoey Jones with a .414 batting average.

Boston College will be the second team Wisconsin sees over the weekend. The Eagles are 6-4 on the season after two tournaments and the Badgers will face them on Friday, Feb. 25 at 8:00 a.m.

Wisconsin will then turn to the University of North Carolina, a team that was down at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, just one the Badgers did not play. The Tar Heels are 5-4 and beat both CBU and BYU, two opponents Wisconsin lost to in Mexico. The Badgers will play UNC twice this tournament on both Friday and Saturday.

Finally, the Badgers will face Villanova on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. to conclude the FAU tournament. The Wild Cats are the only team out of the four the Badgers will go up against that has a losing record, at 4-6 currently. This will be only the second time that Wisconsin will go head-to-head against the Wildcats and the first time since 2019. 

5. UP NEXT: Following the five games in Boca Raton, Wisconsin will return to the Midwest for the Hoosier Classic hosted by fellow Big Ten participant, Indiana. The Badgers will go up against Green Bay, IUPU, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Indiana while in Bloomington the weekend of March 3- 5.