MADISON, Wis. – After a cross-country road trip going from Arizona, Florida, California, Utah, and Maryland, the Wisconsin Softball team begins conference play against on Thursday against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The three-game series will be played at Bob Pearl Field in Iowa City, with games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Here's what you need to know before the series:
1. ELECTRIC ECHEVARRIA – After spending most of the year as a pinch-runner, freshman
Eden Echevarria made multiple starts in Baltimore. She made the most of her playing time, hitting her first career home run against UMBC last Friday. Echevarria tallied two hits that day, and in her very next game went 2-for-3. For the tournament, Echevarria hit .364, and recorded her first stolen base, walk, RBI, multi-hit game, extra base hit, and started her first game at second base.
2. NEW HEIGHTS – Starters
Tessa Magnanimo and
Shelby Jacobson combined to pitch all 33 innings over the UMBC Spring Invite, while allowing two or less earned runs in four of the five games. Both pitchers reached or tied new season high strikeout totals. Jacobson collected seven strikeouts in a seven-inning victory against Colgate, a new career high. Magnanimo struck out seven in back-to-back appearances against UMBC and UAlbany, the fourth and fifth time she's met that mark in her career. Her 14 strikeouts between both games ties her career high for most strikeouts in two straight appearances, matching her total from 3/31/23 – 4/2/23.
3. WELLS IS WATCHING – Not only did
Emmy Wells provide some pop at the plate for the Badgers over the weekend, hitting her seventh home run in a 3-for-3 performance against Colgate, but the catcher also navigated traffic on the basepaths. No baserunner stole a base over the five-game span while Wells was catching, with the junior throwing out a runner in the UAlbany game. Wisconsin has allowed the third fewest stolen bases among Big Ten teams, while Well's six runners caught stealing ranks second in the conference.
4. EYES ON IOWA – Wisconsin begins conference play against the 12-10 Iowa Hawkeyes. Wisconsin swept the Hawkeyes in last season's series but trail the all-time series 40-34. Iowa's pitching staff has been adept at preventing runs this season, sporting the third best ERA in the conference at 2.56. They've prevented the least number of doubles (12) and home runs (3) in the conference, despite having the lowest strikeout total of any team. Jalen Adams leads the staff with 75.2 innings pitched, with a 2.40 ERA, while Devyn Greer has allowed just three earned runs in 23 innings of work. In contrast, Iowa's bats are near the end of the pack, hitting just two home runs thus far, and hitting .261 as a team, second to last in the conference.
5. HOW TO WATCH – All three games will stream on Big Ten Plus, with the first occurring on Thursday at 2:30 PM.
Live stats for every game are available on the Badger softball schedule on uwbadgers.com, and live updates will be given on the @badgersoftball Facebook, X, and Instagram pages.
