MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin softball team (15-23, 4-8) lost 9-5 against the Ohio State Buckeyes Sunday afternoon. The game was the final of three over the weekend, with Wisconsin winning the first two. The Badgers held an early lead, scoring in the first inning, but relinquished it after a scoring outburst from the Buckeyes in the fifth.
How It Happened:
Base-running and fielding mistakes proved costly for Wisconsin. Only four of the nine runs allowed for the Badgers were earned. The team was responsible for four errors in the game, the fourth time they've reached that mark this season. Wisconsin also let two pop-ups drop during the top of the fifth that allowed for a six-run Ohio State inning.
Wisconsin was up 3-1 through the first three innings of the game, with the Ohio State run coming off one of those Wisconsin errors. The bulk of that offensive production was courtesy of
Ava Kuszak, whose RBI double in the first inning drove in the first run of the game. She then one-upped herself in the third inning with a solo home run, her second straight game with a long ball.
Brooke Kuffel's RBI single in the first inning also contributed to the Badger's early scoring.
Ohio State rallied in the fourth inning, with back-to-back solo home runs against starter
Tessa Magnanimo that tied the game. Wisconsin took the lead again in the fourth, when
Peyton Bannon raced home on a squeeze bunt from
Alivia Bark.
The first two games of the series featured big scoring totals in the fifth inning, and this game the Buckeyes continued the trend. OSU sent a player up to the plate 11 times in the inning, capitalizing on two errors, four singles, and a fielder's choice that ultimately allowed six runners to cross the plate. The Buckeyes also knocked Magnanimo out of the game, relieved by
Shelby Jacobson.
The Badgers were shut down offensively after that, besides a
Peyton Bannon RBI single that cut the deficit to four. Wisconsin got their lead-off batter on in five of the seven innings, but left a couple of runs on the board earlier in the game, with a runner thrown out at home off a passed ball, and then another caught stealing off a pitch that was believed to be ball-four. The Badgers struck out eight times at the plate.
Magnanimo was charged with the loss, going 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits, and eight runs, with only three of them earned. Jacobson worked 2.1 innings of relief allowing four hits, and one earned run.
Batting Cleanup
- Ava Kuszak went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and two RBI. During the series, Kuszak went 6-for-11 with two home runs and drove in four runs.
- Peyton Bannon went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Bannon is hitting 10-for-20 this season at home in six games, with half of those hits going for extra-bases.
- The Badgers scored 23 runs across their three games against the Buckeyes.
Up Next: It's a double-header in the middle of the week for the Badgers, as Wisconsin takes to the road against Minnesota on Wednesday. The games can be watched on Big Ten Plus, with the first at 3 PM CT, and the second at 5 PM CT. 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.
