The Wisconsin softball team (10-21) will open Big Ten competition this weekend, with games Friday and Saturday at Northwestern and a doubleheader Sunday at Michigan State.
Northwestern (13-9) is ranked No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and has wins over No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 6 Louisiana State and No. 25 Texas.
The Wildcats feature junior short stop Tammy Williams, a player Wisconsin head coach Chandelle Schulte called a phenomenal ballplayer.""
Williams leads Northwestern with a .535 batting average, a .775 slugging percentage, two triples and four home runs.
Last year Williams set the school record with her 24-game hit streak. The infielder also broke single-season school marks with 91 hits, 73 runs and 155 total bases. Williams was a first-team NFCA All-American selection, a Women's College World Series All Tournament Team selection and a finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.
Taking Williams and all her accolades into account, it could be the pitching that ends up stopping the Badgers this weekend.
""Their pitching has put them together,"" Schulte said.
Sophomore Lauren Delaney is the staff ace. The right hander is 11-6 with a 2.17 earned run average. Through 116.1 innings pitched, Delaney has surrendered 63 hits and 42 walks, meaning she is allowing less than one base runner per inning.
Despite its standout players and lofty national ranking, Northwestern has struggled of late, losing three in a row and six of its last seven. Nevertheless, the Wildcats will represent a tough foe for Wisconsin.
""They're very tough at home,"" Schulte said. ""We can't afford to make too many mistakes, and we have to take advantage of theirs.""
The contests against the Spartans may not be as difficult as the ones against Northwestern, but Wisconsin cannot afford to lose focus.
""Michigan State's pitching is not as good [as Northwestern's], but they hit the ball very well,"" Schulte said. ""It will be a battle of the bats and who can out hit each other.""
The Spartans are averaging five runs and 7.7 hits per game, which compares favorably to the Badgers' offensive production. Wisconsin is scoring 2.7 runs and 5.1 hits per game.
Wisconsin is coming off a rough road trip in which it won 3-of-13 games. However, Wisconsin's three victories came in the final five games at the Stanford Invitational II.
""We felt real good about Stanford's tournament,"" Schulte said. ""We're trying to use that positiveness.""
Wisconsin used clutch hitting to capture the wins. Sophomore outfielder Valyncia Raphael hit a walk-off home run over Princeton last Sunday, and on Friday the Badgers rallied in extra innings to score the winning run.
It has been a tough non-conference schedule for Wisconsin to this point. Since their opening game on Feb. 8, the Badgers have played 31 games and traveled all over the country, and have only 10 wins to show for it.
""We'd like more wins than we have,"" Schulte said. ""We haven't taken advantage of several opportunities.""
But the beginning of the Big Ten schedule marks a clean slate for Wisconsin.
""We faced some tough competition, but the whole point was to prepare for the Big Ten,"" Schulte said.
""We're starting to come together,"" sophomore pitcher Letty Olivarez said. ""We can still improve a lot, but I think we're taking good steps.
