2005 Big Ten Softball Tournament -- Game 4 Notes & Quotes
5/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2005 Big Ten Softball Tournament
#22 Iowa 1, Penn State 0
Game 3 -- Friday, May 13 -- Noon
Alumni Field, Ann Arbor, Mich.
NOTES AND QUOTES
Wisconsin Notes
Wisconsin defeated Ohio State in all three meetings this season, winning 2-1, 9-7 and 6-1 ... The Badgers improve to 2-6 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, making their first appearance since 2002 ... Kris Zacher improved her hitting streak to eight games, while Katie Hnatyk and Natalie Phillips extended their streaks to seven contests ... Ricci Robben had her 11th multi-hit game of the season ... Starting pitcher Eden Brock won her 10th straight game, improving from 10-8 on April 16 to 20-8 with the win over the Buckeyes ... Brock picked up the victory in all three meetings against Ohio State this season ... With the win, Brock becomes just the second Badger pitcher to record 20 wins in a single season. She joins Andrea Kirchberg, who won 28 games in 2000, 22 games in 2001 and 20 games in 2002 ... Wisconsin has won 18 of its last 20 games, including the last eight - the longest winning streak in its 10-year history ... Wisconsin's 13 hits against Ohio State are a season high.
Wisconsin Head Coach Karen Gallagher
On the recent play of the Badgers ... "I think the kids certainly know they're playing consistent ball. At this time of the year, it's good to be hitting the ball like this. Our goal all year has been to play consistently and that's what we've been doing the last three or four weeks of the season. I think we're peaking at the right time."
On starting off slow offensively ... "Jamee (Juarez) is a good pitcher and we certainly know that. The kids were a little tired coming in with finals last week. With this team, when someone starts the ball rolling, the rest just connect with it. Ricci Robben got that double and that got the engines charging."
On the pitching ... "Eden Brock pitched an outstanding game. She's been consistent for us and she deserves this challenge. She's gotten a lot of wins for us - a lot of big wins - so I thought she deserved it today."
Wisconsin Sophomore Pitcher Eden Brock
On the team ... "I think our whole team was confident coming into this game because we did well against Ohio State earlier this year - sweeping them in Big Ten play. We just waited for our bats to get started and when they did, it was fine."
On pitching in a tight situation early on ... "I was just trying to hit my spots and keep people off of the bases. I think there's more pressure when there's a one-run ballgame because it's more pressure to keep the lead. Today, it wasn't quite as much pressure."
Ohio State Notes
With five strikeouts, starting pitcher Jamee Juarez has 192 K's in 2005 and 310 strikeouts in her career ... Karisa Evans extended her hitting streak to seven games, equalling her career high ... Ohio State falls to 8-18 against Wisconsin all-time and drops to 0-2 vs. the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament ... OSU managed just one run in its 6-1 loss to Wisconsin. The Buckeyes previously scored one run or fewer in just five seven-inning games this season and recorded four hits or fewer just four times all year.
Ohio State Heach Coach Linda Kalafatis
On the game ... "I guarantee that Wisconsin outplayed us. They made some good plays on defense and had some hard hit balls and some not-so-hard hit balls that fell in. We struggled at the plate. If we hit all game like we did in the last inning we would have had a much better game."
On the performance of starting pitcher Jamee Juarez ... "She threw a good game and seemed in control through the first four innings. She made some key pitches and recorded some key strikeouts for us."
OSU Sophomore Pitcher Jamee Juarez
On the game ... "I was disappointed that we didn't score more than one run. We struggled a lot on offense. I pitched well for the first four or five innings but they made some plays. We needed to make some plays ourselves to beat them. Wisconsin just made more of their opportunities than we did."
