With No. 1 Michigan and No. 18 Northwestern rolling into town this weekend, the UW softball team certainly has its work cut out for it. Coming off a tough 5-4 loss Wednesday against Illinois-Chicago, the Badgers (3-1 Big Ten, 12-13 overall) will try to rebound and pull off a few upsets in the process.
Beating the top-ranked Wolverines (3-1, 36-3) will be a daunting task. With two of its three losses coming in the last week, including the loss last Friday that snapped its 32-game winning streak, Michigan will have a little extra motivation. However, so do the Badgers, as they look to stop their five-game losing streak against the Wolverines.
\You know, you go into this weekend trying to put your best game out on the field,"" Badger head coach Janet Gallagher said.
""We need to bring our 'A' game, from our pitching staff to the pinch runners to the [starting] lineup,"" senior shortstop Kristin Zacher said. ""If we put it all together, we can compete and come out on top.""
Going against a potent offense, including seven starters batting over .300, the Badger pitchers will have to be on top of their game. The main threats are senior shortstop Jessica Merchant, batting .402 with 13 home runs, and a .803 slugging percentage, and junior infielder Tiffany Haas, who is batting .419 and has only one strikeout all year.
The Wolverine's pitching is nothing to blink at either. With a team earned run average of 0.84, 27 complete games including 19 shutouts, and an opposing batting average of .153, the Badger bats will have to be hitting on all cylinders. Nonetheless, the Badgers remain optimistic.
""We're doing all the right things-the pitching's going to step it up this weekend,"" Zacher said. ""We have to play our best game with confidence and play errorless ball,"" said senior catcher Boo Gillette.
Things get a little easier against No. 18 Northwestern-but not by much. The Big Ten-leading Wildcats (4-0, 22-9) boast a consistent offense and two dominant pitchers in sophomore Eileen Canney and junior Courtney Foster. Canney pitched a perfect game last week and is 12-4 with a 1.08 ERA while Foster is 10-4 with a 1.25 ERA.
The senior bats of Zacher, Gillette and Anastasia Miller will have to come up big this weekend in addition to the pitching of sophomore Eden Brock and senior Katie Layne.
""We're going to have to bring our complete game: the pitching, defense and the hitting to beat Michigan,"" Gallagher said.
