MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin softball team is coming off an undefeated weekend at the Joan Joyce Classic and will look to carry over the same success in Bloomington, Ind. at the Hoosier Classic this upcoming weekend.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW:
1. LAST TIME OUT: Florida Atlantic hosted the Badgers and three other teams in Boca Raton, Fla. for the first annual Joan Joyce tournament. Although play started later than expected for Wisconsin after a delay in travels, the team came ready for action starting Friday morning. Boston College was the first opponent faced and Wisconsin proved a point with a 6-0 blank. With a quick turnaround time, the Badgers then paired up against the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels attempted to come back in the sixth inning, but Wisconsin prevailed with a 4-2 victory. Saturday morning UNC looked to even the series between the two teams, however, the Badgers came out on top once again, 5-4. With one last game in the tournament, Wisconsin pulled out a seventh inning walk off victory with a squeeze bunt for a 3-2 win.
2. MAGNIFICENT MONTICELLI: Wisconsin's freshman pitcher, Paytn Monticelli, continues to shine on the mound. The young star broke her individual career record in strikeouts against UNC on Friday, Feb. 24 with 13 K's in seven innings. Her previous record at Wisconsin was seven strikeouts against Georgia Tech on Feb. 18. The 13 strikeouts from Monticelli was most from any UW pitcher tallied since 2012 (14). Monticelli picked up two wins over the course of the weekend, improving her record to 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA.
3. THE KAYLA KONWENT SHOW: Kayla Konwent had an absolutely stellar weekend going 7-for-12 with a .583 batting average in the four games played. In the first game against Boston College, Konwent singled up the middle in a pivotal inning that the Badgers ended up scoring two runs in. Against UNC on Friday afternoon, the senior knocked a two-run homer to give the Badgers the lead in the first inning. She hit two more singles that game to go 3-for-3 for the first time this season. The two-time First Team All-Big Ten player started the second North Carolina game the exact same way, hitting a two-run bomb to put the Badgers up early. She hit another single later on just as she did later in the day against Villanova.
4. COACH HEALY ON BRINK OF 500 WINS: Head coach Yvette Healy has proved herself as an elite head softball coach in her last 18 years holding the position. The Illinois native has accumulated 499 wins as a head coach during her time spent at both Loyola Chicago and Wisconsin. 131 of those wins came with the Ramblers and the other 369 have been with the Badgers since she joined the team in 2011. The success she has found here, bringing the team to six NCAA tournaments, puts her at the top with the highest winning percentage (.601)of any UW coach in the program's 26-year history. At one win away from 500, this weekend could push her over that benchmark with four games to play.
5. UP NEXT: Indiana University is hosting the Hoosier Classic from March 4-6 bringing in four other teams from the Midwest. With an adjustment to the Hoosier Classic due to forecasted rain on Friday, The Badgers will now play a double header against Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday with the first game starting at 2 p.m. and the second planning to start at 4:15 p.m. CT. Wisconsin will play another two games on Sunday, the first one against IUPUI, currently 2-10, at 11:15 a.m. followed by Indiana, currently 6-8, at 2:00 p.m. from Andy Morh Field.
