Madison Reporter

The University of Wisconsin women’s softball team is looking to make the most of their second opportunity.

After a grueling end to the regular season that saw them drop seven of their last eight games, the team has new life in the form of a berth in the Gainesville Regional of the NCAA championship in Florida.

The Badgers are set to face Georgia Tech on Friday, May 20, and Coach Yvette Healy likes her team’s chances. With the regionals being double elimination, the Lady Gators are slated to face Canisius later in the day.

“I think we have a group that wants to represent the Big Ten, wants to represent the Midwest,” Healy told Madison.com after waiting longer than what she wanted to hear her team’s name added to the field.  

“We take a lot of pride in being a cold-weather school trying to do it on a national stage,” she added.

Despite their late-seasons struggle, the Badgers (28-19) are in Florida on the strength of an at-large bid based on the depths of their entire 47-game schedule, including an impressive win over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.

Leading their all-time series against Georgia Tech 3-0, the Badgers are entering their fourth NCAA Tournament in the last five years and sixth since Healy took over the program in 2011.

Besides Wisconsin, which recently ranked at No. 37 in the RPI, six other Big Ten teams qualified for this year's tournament, including Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State. 

"Going into the day I felt great," Healy added of the Badgers ultimately making the cut. "The wins that we put together, beating Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament, we felt very good. There were a lot of tears shed when Wisconsin came up there."