The waiting is finally over for the Northwestern’s softball team, which will finally get its first crack at Big Ten competition with a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. at Wisconsin.

In two months of non-conference action, the Wildcats (9-14) have had their fair share of ups and downs, beating the top-ranked Washington Huskies and dropping games to teams like Northwestern State.

But with today’s games against the Badgers (22-13) and a two-game weekend series at Minnesota (22-12), the Cats are ready to focus on just conference competition for much of the season.

“We had a meeting after our last off-season game and I was telling everybody through my experience that the Big Ten season is like a different season,” senior Tami Jones said. “The stats are different. You get a new record. We kind of want to approach it as new.”

And with that advice, the youngest Cats are ready to take on their conference foes.

“The Big Ten is what counts,” freshman hurler Brie Brown said. “Coach (Sharon Drysdale) gave us a little speech Thursday about how we’re undefeated coming into this new season.”

The Cats have made their share of mistakes this year. But by facing the top two teams in the nation, as well as other ranked opponents, NU should be prepared for the weekend and the rest of the year.

Drysdale thinks the Cats have the experience and the talent to match up against Big Ten teams. If Drysdale’s team, especially her nine freshmen, can take the right lessons away from its southern swing in February and March, she believes NU will enjoy a lot of victories in the league.

“The only reason you ever want to focus on errors or missed opportunities is to learn from them,” she said. “As soon as you’ve gained from it what you can you want to forget about it. You want to dwell on successes because successes give you confidence and momentum. With as young a team as we have, it’s taken some time for everybody to get to know each other and for everybody to come together and to learn.”

NU may need to play some of its best games to top the Badgers and the Gophers, since they boast two of the conference’s toughest pitchers. Freshmen Andrea Kirchberg of Wisconsin and Angie Recknor of Minnesota are first and second in the Big Ten in innings pitched and decisions.

Kirchberg, in particular, has been dominant all year. She has broken the school’s single-season record for wins before even beginning the conference schedule. With a 20-7 record and a 0.87 ERA, the Cats are concerned about facing the conference’s newest ace.

“Because she’s a freshman, it’ll be our first time seeing her, so there’s not much that we can do other than try to prepare for her best pitch,” Drysdale said. “I expect her to pitch both games. The upside is that if we hit her the first time, then we’ve got a crack in her armor.

“On the other hand, if we don’t, we know that we have to come back the next game and find a way to beat her.”

Drysdale plans on countering with a freshman of her own — Lauren Schwendimann — in the first game today, and will probably have junior Brooke Siebel pitch the second. Siebel, last year’s workhorse on the mound, will be making her second start of the year after returning from a sprained ankle.

Schwendimann and Brown both have 11 decisions, so the Cats have three pitchers capable of shouldering a large workload. Unlike previous years, NU will have plenty of options on the hill.

“I think it’s going to help us in that if the pitcher we start with is on, we’re going to be able to have someone in relief and have someone available to start the next game,” Drysdale said. “If somebody’s not on, it’s going to give us somebody else. Hopefully, two of the three will be on.”

No matter how the pitchers fare, the Cats can take heart that they have the tools to beat some of the best teams in the nation, and the wherewithal to make it happen.

And that should help them immensely against a strong conference.

“We know how we need to play to beat No. 1,” Drysdale said. “And that’s what we have to try to capture on a consistent basis. That’s the challenge.”

Check www.dailynorthwestern.com for updates from this weekend’s games.