With two split doubleheaders and one fully successful doubleheader in California at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Wisconsin Badgers softball team improved their record to 8-8 by the end of their West Coast trip.
The Badgers broke their losing streak with a close, low-scoring game against the Oregon State Beavers on Thursday, winning 3-2. Starting off trailing but stealing the win in the seventh, Wisconsin reversed their start-strong-then-trail-behind routine from the last tournament.
While Wisconsin failed to score in the first three innings — no thanks to a series of fly outs and strikeouts — the Beavers solo homered in the first and scored again in the second due to a sequence of walks from Gabi Salo.
The Badgers cleaned up their game shortly after getting a run back in the fourth when catcher Emmy Wells, infielder Ellie Hubbard and catcher Emily Bojan all singled, followed by a ground out from infielder Ava Kuszak. Their deficit was split in half with a score of 1-2.
While the Beavers had a dry rest of the game, the Badgers took the lead after trailing throughout the game. Infielder Alivia Bark scored off of OSU’s error, and just as the Badgers have thrived off of homeruns this season, outfielder Peyton Bannon blasted the ball over the left field fence to take the lead.
The Badgers ended up splitting the doubleheader in another close, low-scoring game, losing in the seventh 2-3 to the No. 11 Missouri Tigers. After a Tiger scored off of Tessa Magnanimo’s wild pitch, Magnanimo locked in to ensure no hits came throughout the next five frames.
After an unlit few innings, Kuszak crushed her first homerun of the year, tying the game 1-1 in the fifth. The Badgers filled the bases during the sixth, but the Tigers escaped with a strikeout.
Finally, Magnanimo was forced out of the game in the top of the seventh when Mizzou scored a single, leading 2-1. Shelby Jackson’s wild pitch run led to an insurance run for the Tigers. The Badgers got one run back from Bannon in the bottom of the seventh but fell short of a victory after a strikeout.
Badgers notch another split double-header on Friday
The Badgers prevailed in a series of shutouts at the beginning of the season, and they stole that groove back with a shutout Friday against the San Diego Toreros, winning 8-0.
The Badgers had control of the whole game, with Wells establishing the team’s dominance in the second with a solo homer, her fourth home run of the season. The Badgers only struck out twice throughout the game, with their highest scoring frame coming from three runs in the fifth from infielder Danielle Lucey, Kuszak and outfielder Marytherese Nevin.
Salo thrived throughout the entire runaway victory, only allowing two hits while striking out seven.
The Badgers lost 2-10 in the five-inning second game of the day to the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, who came in with a 63-game winning streak.
Pitcher Shelby Jacobson started strong in the first but fell in the second, giving the Sooners a 2-0 lead. The Badgers caught up in the next couple of innings, tying the game 2-2 with RBIs from Bark and catcher Hilary Blomberg.
Jacobson threw another clean frame during the bottom of the third. The Badgers kept up with the Sooners until things fell apart in the bottom of the fourth. Magnanimo took over but allowed eight runs, cut short by the run rule. With an uneventful final inning, the Badgers lost 2-10.
Badgers triumph Saturday in a shutout followed by a win against a ranked team
The Badgers started off their Saturday doubleheader with a 4-0 win against the Long Beach State Sharks, their sixth shutout of the season. Wisconsin carried off the lead 2-0 in the second, with RBIs from Hubbard and Bojan, followed by an RBI from Bark in the third — her eleventh RBI of the season.
Bark drove in the Badger’s last run of the game in the fifth, while Jacobson secured no runs from the Sharks. Wisconsin allowed the Sharks just one hit all game.
The Badgers closed the Mary Nutter Classic with their first win against a ranked team and their second win of the day, beating the No. 20 Utah Utes 4-2.
For the first four innings, the only run scored was from Utah in the second thanks to multiple singles off of Magnanimo. Both teams scored one run in the fifth, with outfielder Bree Mitchell scoring for the Badgers to push the score to 1-2.
Wisconsin recovered and took charge in the sixth, scoring three runs. Wisconsin won 4-2 after an RBI from Blomberg, a remarkable two-run homer from pinch-hitter Fiona Girardot and a clean frame for Magnanimo in the seventh.
After a rollercoaster of a tournament in California, Wisconsin sits at .500. They will take the field again at the Utah Tech Invitational on March 1-3 in St. George, Utah, which will include a three-game series rematch against the Utes.
