Huge Weekend for Wisconsin Sports

This past weekend was huge for Wisconsin sports. The Brewers, Badgers and Packers all had big wins on their way to an undefeated weekend.

Brewers


Friday night the Brewers began a three game series against the Florida Marlins. Going into the game the Brewers had a magic number of two to clinch the National League Central division, meaning they needed to win two games, or the second-place St. Louis Cardinals needed to lose two games, or some combination of the two.

The Brewers got on the board early on a solo home run by Prince Fielder in the second inning. The Marlins tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Bryan Peterson.

In the eighth inning Corey Hart doubled and Nyjer Morgan walked, bringing Ryan Braun to bat with two men on base. Braun worked Marlins pitcher Clay Hensley into a 3-1 count and sent the following pitch 431 feet into center field, putting the Brewers up 4-1.

"I think for me honestly, I live for that moment. You play the game to have the opportunity to play meaningful games down the stretch in September," Braun said after the game. "I truly expected to come through in that situation."

John Axford claimed his 44th save in the ninth inning to give the Brewers the victory.



With the Brewers' magic number reduced to just one, the Crew now looked to the Cubs/Cardinals matchup that was, at the time, in the eighth inning. 20 minutes later, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 5-1, ironically giving the Brewers their first NL Central division title since 1982.

The Brewers went on to beat the Marlins again on Saturday (6-4) and Sunday (9-5) to improve to 94-65 on the season. The Brewers' victory on Sunday gave the crew 55 wins at home in the 2011 season, a team record. The Brewers will also attempt to pick up their 95th win of the season on Monday night, which would tie the team record for most wins in a season.

Badgers

On Saturday the 7th ranked Wisconsin Badgers (4-0) faced off against the South Dakota Coyotes (2-2) at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

After struggling in the first quarter, the Badgers exploded to end the first half and went on to steamroll the Coyotes 59-10.

Russell Wilson continued his dominance for the Badgers, completing 19 of 25 passes for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Wilson found wide receiver Nick Toon seven times for a career-high 155 reception yards and two touchdowns. Jared Abbrederis also caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Montee Ball amassed 15 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns, and James White carried the ball 9 times for 95 yards and a score. As a team the Badgers collected 267 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.



The Badgers finished out the non-conference schedule with their fourth straight win. They have outscored their non-conference opponents 194-34.

Wisconsin opens their Big Ten schedule next Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. ESPN College Gameday will come to Madison for the night game as the #7 and #8 teams face off.

Packers

The Packers traveled to Soldier Field on Sunday for a rematch of the 2010 NFC Championship Game against the Chicago Bears.

Green Bay opened the scoring in the first quarter when Aaron Rodgers found tight end Jermichael Finley for a  six yard touchdown pass. Rodgers found Finley again in the second quarter on a seven yard score to put the Packers up 14-0.

The Bears scored on a pass from Jay Cutler to Dane Sanzenbacher to make the score 14-7. Both teams added field goals near the end of the second quarter to make the score 17-10 at the half.

The Packers added another field goal in the third quarter, before going up 27-10 in the fourth on a third Rodgers/Finley connection, this time from from ten yards out.

The Bears scored again late in the fourth on a 32 yard pass to Kellen Davis to make the score 27-17. After a late-game punt return touchdown was called back on a penalty, the Bears were unable to mount a comeback and the Packers walked away with the victory.



Aaron Rodgers completed 28 of 38 attempts for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns, all to Jermichael Finley. Greg Jennings led all receivers with 9 receptions for 119 yards.

The packer defense held Chicago running back Matt Forte to just two yards on nine carries, and Morgan Burnett intercepted Jay Cutler twice.

The Packers return home next Sunday against the Denver Broncos (1-2).