TEMPE, Ariz. – The Wisconsin softball team (3-1) took both games in today's Kajikawa Classic double-header, beating both Boise State and Maine 9-0. Wisconsin hit seven home runs across both games and allowed no runs across eleven innings.
GAME ONE
Wisconsin's first opponent was Boise State, who sported a 32-17 record last season.
Brooke Kuffel opened the game with a solo shot in the top of the second inning, the exact same thing she did in Wisconsin's last game against GCU to give the Badgers an early, 1-0 lead.
Tessa Magnanimo would hold off any Bronco's scoring threats through the next few innings as the Badgers broke loose in the fourth scoring five runs.
Emmy Wells started it off with a two-run homer, her first ever with Badgers after hitting 25 with her previous school, Northern Iowa.
Not to be one-upped, freshman
Alivia Bark got her first collegiate hit a few batters later, knocking one over the center field fence making it 6-0.
In the top of the sixth inning, Kuffel came up again and blasted her second homer of the game, and the fourth overall this game for the Badgers. A couple of sac flies in the inning put the score at 9-0.
Magnanimo closed out the game in the bottom half of the inning, picking up her first win of the season, as well as Wisconsin's second shutout. The senior pitcher went pitched all six innings, allowing seven hits, no runs, and no walks.
Batting Cleanup
- Alivia Bark and Emmy Wells each hit their first home runs with the Badgers, with Bark's home run being the first hit of her career.
- For the ninth time in program history, and the first time since 3/8/2020, the Badgers hit four or more home runs in a single game.
- Tessa Magnanimo earned her second career shutout. She has now pitched nine innings this season, allowing no earned runs.
- Brooke Kuffel is the first Badger to hit two home runs in one game since Katie Keller against Northwestern on 4/15/23.
GAME TWO
Wisconsin's second opponent of the day was the University of Maine, a team who the Badgers own a 6-0 record against.
With Wisconsin batting in the bottom of the first inning at the neutral site game,
Molly Schlosser started the game off by clearing the right field fence to get the scoring going.
This time around, the second inning served as the big run scoring frame for the Badgers. Wisconsin scraped together three runs capitalizing on Maine errors and aggressive base running.
Brooke Kuffel then continued her hot streak by capping off the inning with a two-run double, making the score 6-0.
The Badger's made sure that there wouldn't be a sixth or seventh inning by hitting back-to-back home runs in the fourth.
Ellie Hubbard collected her first long-ball of the year with a two-run shot, before Kuffel went up to the plate and hit her fourth home run in three games. The score would remain at 9-0 the rest of the way, and the Badgers would run-rule Maine in five innings.
Gabi Salo made her second start of the season, tossing another shutout, with just four hits allowed, and eight strikeouts.
Batting Cleanup
- Molly Schlosser hit the first lead off homer for the Badgers since Taylor Johnson against Illinois on 4/12/18.
- Ellie Hubbard and Brooke Kuffel went back-to-back in the fourth inning, the first Badgers to do so since Stephanie Lombardo and Caroline Hedgcock on 3/01/19.
- Brooke Kuffel joins a list of seven Badgers who have hit a home run in three consecutive games. Katie Hnatyk set the record in 2007 with four.
- Gabi Salo collected her first career shutout in the first game of the season, and now has her second. Salo has pitched ten innings, allowed zero runs, and has struck out 16 batters.
- Wisconsin hit three home runs in a game for the first time since an hour prior.
- The last time the Badgers hit seven home runs in a two-game span was against Colorado St. on March 11-12, 2017.
Up Next: The Badgers finish the Kajikawa Classic tomorrow with a game against St. Thomas. The first pitch is set for 10:00AM CT. Links to live stats can be found on our schedule page. Live updates will be given on the @badgersoftball Facebook, X, and Instagram pages.
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