Photo by: Jack McLaughlin
Badgers host NIU for final home game of 2017
May 01, 2017 | Softball
UW coming fresh off of series split at Illinois
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin softball team will host one final game at Goodman Diamond on May 2 as the Badgers welcome Northern Illinois for a 4 p.m. (CT) contest.
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The Badgers (29-13 overall, 8-11 Big Ten) are fresh off a series split with No. 22 (ESPN/USA Softball) Illinois. The Badgers blanked the Illini, 3-0, at Eichelberger Field on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Kaitlyn Menz earned her 20th win of the season and threw her fifth shutout of the year.
NIU is also coming off a successful weekend where the Huskies swept Eastern Michigan at home. The Huskies improved to 27-18 on the season and 13-8 in conference play.
Northern Illinois is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Christina Sutcliffe who led the Huskies to the 2016 Mid-American Conference West Division crown. Tara Thacker has been a dominant force in the circle for NIU, sporting a 2.64 ERA and 8-9 record with a team-leading 81 strikeouts. Kayti Grable leads the Huskies from the plate with a .382 batting average and .603 slugging percentage. Grable leads the team in seven other categories as well, including on base percentage (.459), hits (52), RBI (37), home runs (8), total bases (82), walks (18) and stolen base percentage (1.000).
UW is 6-2 all-time against Northern Illinois and 4-1 against the Huskies in Madison. The last time the two teams faced in 2010, the squads split the doubleheader with the Huskies taking the first game 5-4 in extra innings and the Badgers taking the next, 4-3.
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The Badgers (29-13 overall, 8-11 Big Ten) are fresh off a series split with No. 22 (ESPN/USA Softball) Illinois. The Badgers blanked the Illini, 3-0, at Eichelberger Field on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Kaitlyn Menz earned her 20th win of the season and threw her fifth shutout of the year.
NIU is also coming off a successful weekend where the Huskies swept Eastern Michigan at home. The Huskies improved to 27-18 on the season and 13-8 in conference play.
Northern Illinois is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Christina Sutcliffe who led the Huskies to the 2016 Mid-American Conference West Division crown. Tara Thacker has been a dominant force in the circle for NIU, sporting a 2.64 ERA and 8-9 record with a team-leading 81 strikeouts. Kayti Grable leads the Huskies from the plate with a .382 batting average and .603 slugging percentage. Grable leads the team in seven other categories as well, including on base percentage (.459), hits (52), RBI (37), home runs (8), total bases (82), walks (18) and stolen base percentage (1.000).
UW is 6-2 all-time against Northern Illinois and 4-1 against the Huskies in Madison. The last time the two teams faced in 2010, the squads split the doubleheader with the Huskies taking the first game 5-4 in extra innings and the Badgers taking the next, 4-3.
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