Wisconsin Welcomes Penn State, Ohio State
April 28, 2006 | Softball
The University of Wisconsin softball team (20-19, 4-8 Big Ten) faces another critical weekend of conference play at Goodman Softball Complex when it plays Penn State (33-12, 6-8) at 6 p.m. Friday/noon Saturday and Ohio State (34-17, 10-4) in a doubleheader beginning at noon Sunday. The games will have live stats and a free radio broadcast available on uwbadgers.com.
The 10th-place Badgers are on the outside looking in for the Big Ten tournament (top eight teams only), so wins are paramount this weekend. One thing UW has in its favor is that its remaining games are all at home; these upcoming contests are part of a seven-game home stand.
Wisconsin will be challenged in two different ways this weekend: the Nittany Lions are one of the top pitching teams in the league, while the Buckeyes are one the best hitting teams.
Junior Sam Polito (.323 batting average, .419 on-base percentage) and sophomore Joey Daniels (.304, .462) provide the consistent hitting for the Badgers, and sophomore Katie Hnatyk (nine home runs, .569 slugging percentage, 70 total bases) provides the power.
They will face a PSU pitching staff that has a combined ERA of 1.10, which ranks ninth nationally and second in the Big Ten. In fact, opposing batters are hitting just .155 against them.
Redshirt senior Missy Beseres boasts a 0.86 ERA, which is second best in the conference. She threw a three-hit, complete-game shutout against Kent State on Wednesday to improve to 18-5 this season.
UW's ace is junior Eden Brock (16-10), who herself threw a four-hit, complete-game shutout vs. Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday. She has been a workhorse as of late, starting the past eight games.
Brock faces an OSU squad that is collectively hitting .283, with Megan Schwab's team-high .342 leading the way. Schwab, who knocked in the game-winning run in Ohio State's game two win over Wright State on Wednesday, has 14 extra-base hits for a .514 slugging percentage.
The Badgers are 11-16 all-time against the Nittany Lions and 18-8 all-time against the Buckeyes.
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