Fresh off of two-straight home wins, the Iowa softball team (11-29, 1-9 Big Ten) will try to keep the streak alive when Wisconsin (21-16-1, 6-4-1) travels to Iowa City for a three-game weekend series.
Iowa recently topped Northern Iowa, 6-3, and Drake, 8-7.
“We’ve been close, we’ve been right there in a lot of ball games this year,” Iowa head coach Marla Looper said after the win against the Bulldogs. “We’ve been in some big, heavyweight bouts, and this weekend [against Wisconsin] won’t be different.”
Although Wisconsin sits in the lower half of the Big Ten standings, the visiting team will have the confidence to match the Hawkeyes’. The Badgers went on the road to Minnesota on April 14 for a double-header against the No. 21 Gophers and took both games.
Iowa has struggled in the Big Ten this year, with its lone conference victory coming against Purdue on April 3. However, it came at home, where the Hawkeyes have been marginally better and actually have a winning record (3-2) at Pearl Field
“In all the games this season, if we’re down — we don’t give up,” junior Kaitlyn Mullarkey said. “That’s one of the things I love about this team. We’re not done until the game is over.”
Iowa will not have to deal with any ace pitchers in this series as it did against Purdue with Lilly Fecho or Indiana’s Tara Trainer. No Wisconsin pitcher has an ERA lower than 3.30, and the team ERA is a mediocre 3.82. Taylor-Paige Stewart and Kirsten Stevens have been the leaders in the circle for the Badgers.
The two have combined to pitch 221.2 of Wisconsin’s 245.2 innings so far this season.
Iowa will, on the other hand, have to deal with the third best batter in the Big Ten, Kelsey Jenkins. The sophomore from Tucson, Arizona, is batting .423 through Wisconsin’s 38 games. She has logged 44 hits. Three other Badgers are batting above .300, including Ashley Van Zeeland, who has 40 RBIs and ranks No. 5 in the Big Ten in the category.
Sophomore Angela Schmiederer has been consistent for the Hawkeyes over the past five games. The Prospect Heights, Illinois, native has batted .444 in her last 18 at bats, with 6 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Mullarkey has also been helpful to Iowa’s cause. She has 8 RBIs in the past five games, and is coming off a walk-off, 3-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Drake.
“She’s been doing that all season for us,” Looper said. “She’s calm, has a great demeanor when she’s in the box and I think every at-bat she battles and people don’t really want to face her.”
The first pitch to kick off the weekend series will be at 5 p.m. at Pearl Field.