Wisconsin will play its final series of the season this weekend against Minnesota at the Goodman Softball Complex. The Badgers will face the Gophers at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.
It has been a disappointing season for Wisconsin (3-15 Big Ten, 15-38 overall). A year ago, the Badgers went 27-20 overall, and 6-12 in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin enters the final weekend of Big Ten play without postseason aspirations. The Badgers, who are currently in last place in their conference, are four games out of qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament, which begins May 8.
Minnesota (7-7, 24-15) will play in the conference tournament regardless of its performance this weekend.
Wisconsin needed to sweep Ohio State and get ample help elsewhere in the conference to have a chance to qualify for postseason play. But the Badgers were unable to keep their slim chances alive after blowing a three-run lead in the final inning against the Buckeyes and dropping the first game of the doubleheader.
This season the Badgers have frequently put themselves in position to win conference games, but were unable to pull out clutch victories. The team's inability to play a complete game was a perpetual concern for head coach Chandelle Schulte throughout the season.
Wisconsin lost three one-run games in conference play this season, one each against Northwestern, Michigan State and Illinois.
The Badgers collapsed in other winnable games as well. UW entered the final inning of games against Indiana and Ohio State with leads at home, but lost both contests. Wisconsin was also involved in a close game with Penn State at home, but two costly errors caused a defeat. If only a few of those games had been victories, the Badgers could be going into the final weekend in a very different situation.
Instead, the team's season will end after the final out is recorded on Sunday, and the careers of two seniors, shortstop Lynn Anderson and catcher Joey Daniels, will come to an end.
Despite the dissatisfying season for the Badgers, both players have much to be proud of when reflecting on their final season.
Daniels showed tremendous endurance, starting all 53 of the team's games behind the plate. As a catcher, Daniels led the team with a .288 batting average, a .482 on base percentage, 12 doubles and 24 runs scored. Daniels was also second on the team in stolen bases with 12.
Anderson led the team with nine home runs, a .493 slugging percentage and 67 total bases. She was also second on the club with a .265 batting average and 20 runs batted in.
Both seniors played important defensive roles and represented the team's two greatest offensive threats and will be difficult to replace next year.
