MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin softball team (15-22, 4-7) won their second consecutive game against the Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 10-5. Wisconsin scored six runs in the fifth inning, and now have twenty hits across the first two games of the series. It's the first back-to-back victories for Wisconsin since 3/16/24.
How It Happened:
In their last game,
Emmy Wells hit a home run in the first inning for the Badgers. The exact same event occurred to begin today as Wells left the yard for the 11
th time this season. It was a three-run home run to give Wisconsin the early lead. The Badgers added a sac-fly in the third inning to go up 4-0.
With
Shelby Jacobson in relief for starter
Gabi Salo during the fourth inning, the Buckeyes managed to put runners on second and third thanks to an error and a throwing miscue. Ohio State would score two in the inning on a ground out as well as a double steal of second and home.
The rally for Ohio State continued in the fifth inning, when an RBI triple knocked Jacobson out of the game, but new pitcher
Tessa Magnanimo worked her way out of the jam unscathed.
Wisconsin bounced back in a big way after that. The team put up six runs in the fifth inning, surpassing their total of five during the fifth inning of the previous game. The Badgers as a team hit for the cycle in the inning. It started with an
Ava Kuszak two-run home run with nobody out, before back-to-back singles set up a
Peyton Bannon two-RBI double. Two batters later,
Ellie Hubbard hit her fourth career triple, scoring another runner, before
Molly Schlosser finished off the barrage of runs with an RBI single.
Magnanimo closed out the game for the Badgers in a dominant victory, despite letting up a two-run home run in the seventh inning, making the final score 10-5.
Gabi Salo started the game for the Badgers going 2.0 innings without letting up a run.
Shelby Jacobson pitched 2.2 innings allowing two earned runs on two hits. And Magnanimo picked up the win, now 8-10 on the season, going 2.1 innings with two earned runs allowed.
The Badgers have now scored 18 runs over their past two games, tied for the most in a two-game span this season. They've accumulated over twenty hits over those games, 9 of them going for extra bases, including five home runs.
The win was witnessed by a crowd of 1,064 attendees, the 16
th highest total in Goodman Diamond's history.
Batting Cleanup
- Peyton Bannon went 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and two RBI. Bannon has enjoyed hitting at home this season. In five games at Madison, the senior is 8-for-16 with five doubles, two triples, and a home run.
- Ava Kuszak went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
- Emmy Wells went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. It's the third time this season that the catcher has hit home runs in back-to-back games. Wells leads the team with 11 home runs.
- Alivia Bark made two hightlight-reel catches out in left field, the first saving a run in the first inning.
Up Next: The Badgers finish the Ohio State series tomorrow at 1 PM CT. The game can be watched on Big Ten Plus. Live stats are available on the Badger softball schedule on uwbadgers.com, and live updates will be given on the @badgersoftball Facebook, X, and Instagram page. Wisconsin Softball is played at Goodman Diamond. All tickets are general admission and sold at the event only. There are no advanced single game sales. Tickets go on-sale starting one hour prior to the event and are available at the ticket booth located right outside the entrance. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, and $2 for youth (2-17), UW students, and seniors (55+).
