Wisconsin splits games in Mary Nutter double-header

Thursday, February 22

Cathedral City, CA

1:30 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

5-6

Oregon State University

5-6

Wisconsin

Oregon State

Photo by: Ashley Steltenpohl

Wisconsin splits games in Mary Nutter double-header

February 23, 2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Badgers beat Oregon State, fall to Mizzou in California

By: Jake Ross

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Wisconsin softball team (5-7) split their games in the opening double-header of the Mary Nutter Classic, beating Oregon State 3-2, while falling to No. 11 Missouri 3-2. Both games featured late inning rallies from the Badgers, with one of them resulting in a win.

GAME ONE

Gabi Salo quickly found herself down against Oregon State with a solo home run given up in the first inning. Things didn't get much better for the senior after another Oregon State player crossed the plate, despite Salo giving up no hits in the inning, with an error and multiple walks accounting for the score.

From there on the Badgers played a clean game, making no fielding mistakes, and eventually getting a run back. The Badger bats were blanked in the first three innings of the game, before Emmy Wells, Ellie Hubbard, and Emily Bojan all singled in back-to-back-to-back at bats. From there, an Ava Kuszak groundout was all that was need for the Badgers to cut the deficit in half.

With the Beavers unable to capture any more runs – and failing to come up with a hit in innings two through five – Wisconsin stayed in the game. Eventually, the Badgers got their last chance in the seventh inning.

After Alivia Bark reached on a ball hit to the third baseman, senior Peyton Bannon stepped up to the plate and preceded to muscle the pitch over the left field fence, giving the Badgers their first lead of the day.

Game. Winner. - @PeytonBannon pic.twitter.com/NWuQMKJ76A
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) February 22, 2024

Gabi Salo went the full game, closing the door on the Beavers in the bottom frame. Salo pitched her third complete game of the year, improving her record to 3-1. She went seven innings with two earned runs allowed, three hits allowed, and striking out six

The Badgers ended their five game losing streak, and picked up their third win in twelve games against Oregon State.

Batting Cleanup

This was the first game of the year where Wisconsin won after previously trailing in the game. Wisconsin was also previously 0-4 in games where their opponent scored first.
This is also the one-run game in which Wisconsin has come out on top, after previously losing heartbreakers to Georgia and Kentucky. Before today, all of Wisconsin's victories had come via the run rule.
Wisconsin's three hits allowed are the second fewest the Badgers have let up this season, having allowed just one hit to St. Thomas on Feb. 11.
Peyton Bannon's go ahead home-run was her second long ball of her season, hitting her first two games ago against UCF. Bannon's single-season high for home-runs is three.

GAME TWO

The second game of the day against No. 11 Missouri was a pitching duel. Tessa Magnanimo got the start for the Badgers, but fell early after a wild pitch allowed a Missouri player to score.

Magnanimo locked in afterwards, however, going scoreless for the next five frames, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the third by striking out the last two batters of the inning.

Despite some traffic on the base-paths for both teams, the 1-0 deficit held up until the fifth inning. It was then when Ava Kuszak, down 0-2 in the count, hit her first home run of the year, tying the game for the Badgers.

🔽5th | WE. ARE. TIED.@AvaKuszak hits her first homer of the year on an 0-2 pitch, and ties up against No. 11 Missouri!

WIS 1 | MIZ 1 pic.twitter.com/pqK2GxtxIW
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) February 23, 2024

Wisconsin threatened in the sixth inning, but Missouri was able to get out of their own bases-loaded jam.

Magnanimo got the first two outs of the seventh inning with little trouble, but a single from Missouri to give them the lead forced Magnanimo out of the game. A Shelby Jacobson wild pitch gave Missouri an insurance run.

The Badgers went down to their final strike three times in the last inning. Brooke Kuffel survived an 0-2 count with a single that loaded the bases, while Emmy Wells beat out a 1-2 grounder that cut the deficit to one. Missouri coaxed a strikeout in the next at-bat, however, ensuring that Wisconsin would end the day with just one come-from-behind victory.

Batting Cleanup

The Badger's home run streak now extends to eleven games, beating their best stretch from last year, and tying the 2021 team's best total.
This was the first time in the last eight games where the Badger's did not record an error. Wisconsin is 3-2 in games cleanly fielded.
This was Ava Kuszak's first home run since 2/17/23, and only her second career blast. The sophomore is now batting .357 with a .894 OPS.

Up Next: The Badgers continue the Mary Nutter Classic tomorrow with another double-header. The first game against San Diego takes place at 7:30 PM CT, before the Badgers play reigning champions No. 1 Oklahoma immediately after at 10:00 PM CT. Both games will stream on FloSoftball. Links to live stats for both games can be found on our schedule page. Live updates will be given on the @badgersoftball Facebook, X, and Instagram pages.