On April 16, the UW softball team was struggling to keep afloat at 13-19. Since then it has been a different story, however, as the Badgers have ripped off 12 wins in 14 games to get up to 25-21 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten.
\We definitely recognized that we were under-performing and a lot of that was just not getting the breaks,"" said senior outfielder Anastasia Miller. ""But we definitely knew that we had the potential and that we could play like we've been playing lately.""
""We know how much potential we have,"" said senior catcher Boo Gillette. ""I think just knowing that with all that potential we can go further than last year's team, that we were all pressing to go that far.""
Defeating No. 19 Iowa once and sweeping Illinois over the weekend solidified the comeback. That would only be the beginning, as Wisconsin clinched a berth in the Big Ten tournament for the first time in three years and only the fourth time ever.
""We're pretty excited about that,"" Miller said. ""It's a huge reward for us; it kind of showed that our effort was being rewarded.""
The winning streak can largely be credited to a powerhouse offense that has already eclipsed the single season home run mark 21 and dominant pitching performances from sophomore Eden Brock and senior Katie Layne.
There has been no shortage of runs due to the breakout performances of freshmen Ricci Robben and Katie Hnatyk, along with the consistent senior hitting of Kris Zacher, Gillette, and Miller. Even when the hitting does not come through, the pitching has been right there to bail the team out.
In fact, the only aspect of the Badgers' game that needs work is its defense. Giving up four unearned runs in the loss against Iowa on Saturday, defense has been the lone sore spot in the last two-and-a-half weeks.
""Offense can only take you so far, pitching can carry you, but if your defense is no good, the other things are going to be unbalanced,"" Gillette said. ""In practice, I know they've been working really hard on it; a lot of it is just in the moment, it just comes,"" said Miller.
Next up for the Badgers is a home doubleheader Tuesday against Valparaiso (10-11 Mid-Continent, 11-38-1 overall). The Crusaders dug themselves into a hole early in the season, starting off 0-22, and has been trying to dig itself out ever since. Mediocre in their own conference, they have only won one non-conference game and are 2-17 on the road, but enter Madison riding a two-game win streak.
""We try and take each game as if it's one of the top teams in the country,"" Miller said. ""I think we really focus on trying to treat each team equally, the name on the jersey doesn't mean anything,"" Gillette said.
Players that UW will have to keep an eye on include outfielder Megan Carroll, who went 5 for 7 with a home run this weekend and bats .303, and pitcher Chris Halstead, who after pitching two shutouts in her last two outings, named the Mid-Continent Conference Pitcher of the Week. In her lone loss of the year, Halstead allowed just two runs, only one of which was earned, in a 2-0 home loss against DePaul.
