CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Wisconsin softball team (8-8) finished the Mary Nutter Classic with a pair of wins, including an upset over No. 20 Utah. Wisconsin first played Long Beach State, winning 4-0, before upsetting the Utes. The Badgers ultimately ended the tournament going 4-2.
GAME ONE
The first opponent for the Badgers was Long Beach State.
Shelby Jacobson put in a dominant pitching performance, and the badgers out-hit their opponent 9-to-1 in a 4-0 victory for Wisconsin.
The Badgers took the lead in the second inning and never looked back, hitting two of their five extra base hits in the frame.
Emily Bojan led off with a double, before
Ellie Hubbard drove her in with a double of her own.
Skylar Sirdashney finished off the inning with an RBI single.
The very next inning the Badgers scored in the exact same way. This time it was
Ava Kuszak who led off with a double before
Alivia Bark drove her in with her team best fourth double of the year.
Bark would later drive in Wisconsin's last run of the game, a sac fly to score pinch runner
Peyton Bannon, giving the Badgers a four-run lead that would last for the rest of the game
Shelby Jacobson got her second start in a row, allowing no runs on just one hit. Jacobson collected her first complete game as well as her first shutout. Jacobson also picked up her first win of the season, with her record now sitting at 1-5.
Long Beach State still managed to produce plenty of baserunners despite only tallying one hit for the game, due to a mix of walks, hit by pitches, and errors from the Badgers. Wisconsin neutralized any potential scoring threats though, turning two double plays in the game, as well as Bojan throwing out a would-be base stealer.
Long Beach State finished the game going 0-for-8 with runners on base.
Batting Cleanup
- The Badgers earned their sixth shutout of the season. Six of their seven victories have been shutouts, with each of Wisconsin's three starters now having at least one complete game shutout. Last year's team totaled nine shutouts for the year.
- Wisconsin hit five doubles in the game, their highest total since they hit six against Indiana last year on 3/5/2023.
- After her 1-for-2, two RBI performance, Alivia Bark is now tied for the team lead in RBI with 11.
- Junior Eden Dempsey collected her first hit of the year, going 1-for-1 with a double.
GAME TWO
The next game for the Badgers was against No. 20 Utah. The Badgers fell behind early before coming back, taking the lead in the sixth inning, and pulling off the upset.
For a large portion of the game, the only score came in the second inning, when Utah managed to hit two singles off
Tessa Magnanimo to plate one.
The scoring increased in the fifth inning when Utah hit a solo shot to put them up two. The Badgers were able to retaliate in the bottom of the frame, however, when
Skylar Sirdashney's bunt single forced a poor throw, allowing pinch runner
Bree Mitchell to score from first.
The rally from the Badgers continued in the sixth inning.
Alivia Bark led off the inning with a trip, before
Hilary Blomberg drove her in with a single to center.
With the next two batters striking out,
Fiona Girardot came up to the plate as a pinch hitter and launched a two-out, two-run blast over the left field fence. Giving the Badgers the lead for the first time all game.
Magnanimo shut the door in the seventh, getting the complete game victory and improving her record to 3-2. Magnanimo went seven innings, with two earned runs allowed, and struck out five.
Batting Cleanup
- This is the first victory over a ranked team this season for Wisconsin. Their last victory against a ranked team came against Alabama on 3/12/23.
- This was the second game in which the Badgers came back from a deficit in the sixth inning, with their other win occurring in the first game of Mary Nutter against Oregon State.
- Fiona Girardot hit her second home run of the season and now sports a 1.016 OPS.
- This was Tessa Magnanimo's second complete game.
Up Next: The Badger's next tournament will be the Utah Tech Invitational from Mar. 1 to March 3. The team will play five games, with the first two against Utah Tech, and the next three against Utah in rematches of tonight's game.
