By Jacob Miller
The Iowa softball team is coming off two conference wins against Purdue, and it will try to extend its winning streak against Wisconsin this weekend.
The Badgers are one of the top teams in the Big Ten at 23-6 overall, 2-4 in conference play. Recently, however, the Badgers have struggled. Wisconsin was swept by Nebraska in its three-game series, and none of the games was close. This leaves them on a three-game losing streak and vulnerable, but they are still a team that Iowa cannot take lightly.
“I’m just expecting us to go out and play our game this weekend,” junior Angela Schmiederer said. “They’re a pretty tough team. I know they’re coming off a losing weekend, so again, hopefully, our momentum goes into that. We’re just pretty pumped, and sticking with our game plan, and taking it to them.”
One of Wisconsin’s biggest weapons is senior Chloe Miller, who leads the Big Ten and the nation with a .511 batting average. She heads an explosive and consistent Badger offense. They are averaging 6.9 runs per game, and the only Big Ten team with a higher team batting average is Minnesota, which is ranked seventh in the nation.
“I’m personally excited to go against Wisconsin cause it’s another Big Ten series,” sophomore Brooke Rozier said. “I was out last year, so this year, it is exciting to face all of the competition, and I know our team is ready for it.”
The last time the Hawkeyes went up against a high-powered offense, it ended rather poorly. Illinois blew past Iowa in that series, and one of the games ended in the fifth inning. If the Hawkeyes are going to hang with Wisconsin, they need to play nearly flawless defense and must travel well.
The road has not been easy for the Hawkeyes, but with two wins against Purdue in West Layfette last weekend, Iowa is starting to turn things around and should make things difficult for the Badgers, who are trying to get back into the win column.
“They’re aggressive,” head coach Marla Looper said. “They’re not going to sit back and think, ‘Oh, Iowa just won two games, they won this last series, oh goodness poor us.’ It’s, ‘All right, sweet now we get to go knock them off their perch,’ and on the flip side we want to go knock them off their perch in their house. It’s not easy to hit the road and win a series, but that’s what we’re working to do.”
The Hawkeyes also need to get the bats going similar to their two victories against Purdue. An underrated thing that has led to their recent success in the batter’s box has been their energy in the dugout. For the early parts of the season, the Hawkeyes were not able to maintain their dugout energy, whereas now they have started to find their rhythm there as well.
“Toward the beginning, our dugout was low, and the coaches had spoken to us about it, and ever since then, it has been really high energy,” Rozier said. “There are a few specific girls in the dugout who help keep it up, and the rest of us follow, so we owe the dugout a lot with momentum in games.”