58 // VARSITY March 27, 2014
INSIDE
SOFTBALL
Badgers poised for rigors
of Big Ten schedule
Wisconsin looks to be among league's best
BY CHRISTIAN BLATNER @BADGERSOFTBALL
T
he start of conference
season, which began for
Wisconsin last week-
end at No. 23 Northwestern, is
normally a signifier for a team
to buckle down and really be-
gin to perform at its best.
While Badgers softball fans
may still have yet to see UW's
best on the diamond in 2014,
the team has been buckled
down since Day One.
It had to be. In the mat-
ter of one month, Wisconsin
played nine games against five
ranked opponents. The stretch
was highlighted by a 7-5 win
over Arizona in Fullerton, Ca-
lif., at the Judi Garman Classic
in which the Badgers finished
with a 3-2-tournament record.
The Badgers knew a difficult
schedule would prepare them
for a competitive road ahead.
"It was definitely something we all
knew coming into the season: we were
going to have one of the hardest sched-
ules ever put together (at Wisconsin),"
UW right fielder Mary Massei said. "But
it's tough games and teams that we're
playing that are going to prepare us for
conference. After having that tough of
a preseason we definitely have a better
mindset and mentality."
Even though Wisconsin enters its sec-
ond Big Ten series of the season against
Iowa Friday through Sunday with 15-12
overall and 1-2 conference records, its
body of work is what should make oppo-
nents nervous.
Hey, the Badgers may even have a tar-
get on their backs coming off a 2013 Big
Ten tournament in which they defeated
fifth-seeded Northwestern, No. 6 Michi-
gan and third-seeded Minnesota in three
days to capture the championship.
And Wisconsin is ready to defend its
title and stake its claim as a premiere
force in the Big Ten.
"We're just excited to keep playing
good and working during the week to get
as many signature wins as we can," Mas-
sei said. "We know we're playing a lot of
great teams like Northwestern, Michi-
gan, Nebraska and Minnesota. They're all
ranked right now and we're just excited
to play them and to see how we do."
The Badgers welcome Iowa (7-14,
2-1) to Goodman Diamond for their first
home series of the year. Games are set
for 4 p.m. on Friday and noon on both
Saturday and Sunday.
SCHEDULE (15-12, 1-2)
THIS WEEK
Friday Iowa 4 p.m.
Saturday Iowa Noon
Sunday Iowa Noon
