The Wisconsin softball team will head to Austin, Texas to play in the Texas Classic this weekend.
This will be the fourth tournament in as many weekends for Wisconsin. Last weekend the Badgers traveled to Tampa, Fla., for the USF-Louisville Slugger Tournament. The two weekends before Wisconsin journeyed to Provo, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the Red Desert Classic and the Louisville Slugger Classic Desert Classic, respectively.
Wisconsin will begin play Friday against Utah. This will be the second meeting between these schools. In their prior game, the Utes defeated the Badgers 3-1 at the Red Desert Classic.
Immediately following the game against Utah, Wisconsin will take the field against Wichita State. The red hot Shockers are 8-5 and coming off impressive victories against Texas Tech and No. 22 Washington, outscoring the two teams by a combined score of 26-0.
Wisconsin will face host school Texas Saturday. The Longhorns are 8-4-1 and are No. 25 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate rankings. Wisconsin has only faced one other ranked opponent this season in UCLA, and the Bruins defeated Wisconsin 4-1.
Wisconsin is coming off a disappointing trip, winning just one of their four games played in Tampa. The Badgers lost contests to Hofstra, Wright State and South Carolina. Their lone victory came against South Florida. Wisconsin is 6-8 on the season after last weekend’s 1-3 record.
The Badgers have been plagued as of late by poor offensive production. In four games last weekend, Wisconsin plated just four runs. As a team, Wisconsin collected just 19 hits in the four-game span, and eight of those came in one game against Wright State, which ended in a shut-out loss.
The limited offensive output has put pressure on the pitching staff. Sophomore Letty Olivarez has been reliable for Wisconsin, posting a 3.45 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched this year. Yet, Olivarez only has a 2-4 record to show for it because of poor run support. Olivarez earned Wisconsin’s only victory last weekend.
Despite getting off to a good start, junior pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven has been struggling lately. The lefty leads the team in innings pitched with 45.2, and has a 3.94 ERA. But last weekend Vanevenhoven lost both her decisions and was unable to make it past the fourth inning in each start.
The hottest bat for Wisconsin is senior catcher Joey Daniels. Riding a seven-game hitting streak, Daniels has brought her batting average up to .400, the highest on the team. Daniels also leads the team with 16 hits, a .600 slugging percentage, a .547 on-base percentage and six stolen bases.
Because of the weather conditions in Wisconsin, the Badgers do not begin home games until April.
