INSIDE SOFTBALL BY ANNA POULTER-HENDRICKSON @BadgerSoftball SCHEDULE
Last Five April 10 Western Illinois W, 12-11 (9) April 10 Western Illinois W, 7-1 April 14 at Illinois April 15 at Illinois April 15 at Illinois
W, 8-0 L, 7-8
W, 10-7
This Week Saturday Penn State (DH) 12/2 p.m. Sunday Penn State
12 p.m.
Next Five April 25 Indiana State April 28 at Purdue (DH) April 29 at Purdue May 1 Bradley
May 2 Green Bay (DH)
3/5 p.m. 12/2 p.m. 12 p.m. 6 p.m.
3/5 p.m. Demanding respect on N
ot only are the Bad- gers winning games,
they are continually proving themselves on the field. Down eight runs? Wiscon- sin will score nine. A defen- sive error allowed two runs to score? The Badgers will score three. Bases loaded? UW's pitchers force a pair of ground outs and a strike out
44 » VARSITY APRIL 19, 2012
offense and defense The Badgers will beat you any way possible
to end the inning. The Badgers are winning any way possible and mak- ing opponents respect them in all areas of the game. The short game? The Bad-
gers are good at that. They lead the Big Ten Conference with 46 sacrifice hits and all nine starters have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt.
The long ball? UW set a single- game record with six home runs in 10-7 win at Illinois on Sunday, as Mary Massei became the first Badger to belt three bombs in a game. Defense? No problem. Opponents have stolen a Big Ten-low 14 bases on 24 attempts, the Badgers have turned 12 double plays and starting pitcher Cassandra Darrah has com- pleted 17 games in 22 starts with seven of her 16 wins complete game shutouts.
A school-record nine-game win streak behind it, Wisconsin needs to keep on winning. Wins will get the Badgers into the top 50 RPI ranking, votes in the national polls, and some deserved respect.
25 or bust » With a 24-13 record, the Badgers will attempt to become the quick- est UW team to 25 wins on Satur- day against Penn State. In 2002, UW reached 25 wins in 39 games.
