64 // VARSITY February 6, 2014
UW already a step ahead
of last season's hot start
New facility gives Badgers a new advantage
I
n past seasons, the Badgers'
first time on dirt has come
in their first game. Like mi-
grating snowbirds, Wisconsin
travels south for its first games
of the season. But this year, the
Badgers are a step ahead of all
past UW teams thanks to their
new indoor training center.
The new Goodman Soft-
ball Training Center officially
opened in the fall of 2013, but
winters like this are what it
was built for.
"This will be the first year
that we've been able to play
on dirt (before our first tour-
nament)," head coach Yvette
Healy said. "The team is ex-
citing to break in their spikes
and run around on the dirt.
Obviously going to Florida,
our opponents Florida and
South Florida are going to be
outdoors practicing and play-
ing, so they have a little bit of
an advantage, but that indoor
facility gets us as close as we
can to being a West Coast or
Southern team as possible."
Following a record-setting
season in 2013 in which the
Badgers recorded a program-
best 44-13 overall record, won
the Big Ten tournament title,
advanced to the championship
round of the NCAA regional
and shattered eight team re-
cords, the training center provides Wis-
consin with a luxury that will only help
it to continue rising in the national ranks
for years to come.
MASSEI NAMED TO WATCH LIST
● Senior Mary Massei was named to the
Top 50 "Watch List" for the 2014 USA
Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
award. Last season, Massei set six UW
single-season records, including bat-
ting average (.421) and slugging per-
centage (.672). Massei finished the
season with second-team NFCA Great
Lakes All-Region honors, was a first-
team CoSIDA Academic All-District
pick and a unanimous first-team All-
Big Ten selection.
SCHEDULE
COMING UP
Fri. #4 Florida 12:15 p.m.
Fri. #25 USF 5:15 p.m.
Sat. Illinois State 12:45 p.m.
Sat. Bethune Cookman 2:45 p.m.
Sun. #4 Florida 12:30 p.m.
INSIDE
SOFTBALL
BY ANNA POULTER-HENDRICKSON @BADGERSOFTBALL
