Softball advances in Big Ten Tournament, beats OSU 5-1

Wednesday, May 8

Iowa City, IA

7 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Ohio State

Wisconsin

Ohio St.

Photo by: Ashley Steltenpohl

Softball advances in Big Ten Tournament, beats OSU 5-1

May 08, 2024 | Softball

Box Score

Badgers to play No. 3 Rutgers tomorrow in quarter-final

By: Jake Ross

IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The Wisconsin softball team (20-30, 9-15) earned a berth to the Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarter Finals after a 5-1 victory of No. 6 Ohio State. Wisconsin homered twice, and Tessa Magnanimo pitched a complete game in the victory, their first conference tournament win since 2022. The Badgers will face No. 3 Rutgers tomorrow at 7 PM CT.

How it Happened:

Wisconsin's offense struggled to get hits off Allison Smith during the early parts of the game, but made it count when they did. Brooke Kuffel gave Wisconsin its first hit, and opened up the scoring for the game in the top of the 2^nd, blasting her ninth home run of the season to put the Badgers up 1-0.

Pitcher Tessa Magnanimo faced the task of dealing with an Ohio State team that won 10 of their last 12 games and lead the conference in home runs. She got into a jam early during the bottom of the second. A single, and then a few free passes, allowed for an RBI walk to tie up the game at one apiece.

The Badgers retaliated in a big way during the top of the fourth inning. Hilary Blomberg led off for Wisconsin, after earning First Team All-Big Ten and a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team earlier in the day. The freshman lived up to the hype during her at-bat, crushing a home run over the left-center wall, and giving the Badgers the lead. Wisconsin remained disciplined throughout the inning, drawing three walks to load the bases for Skylar Sirdashney. The senior delivered a clutch two-out double that cleared the bases and put Wisconsin up 5-1.

🔼4th | SHE. IS. A. FRESHMAN!!!

First team All-Big Ten Freshmen honoree, @BlombergHilary, unties the game with a loooooooong home run!

WIS 2 | OSU 1 pic.twitter.com/X4plczW8M2
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) May 9, 2024

From there on, the game belonged to Magnanimo, as the senior let up just three hits and struck out four batters in the remaining innings. The Wisconsin defense backed her up, committing no errors on the day. The superb fielding was highlighted by an amazing Ava Kuszak diving catch to record the first out of the bottom of the fourth inning. Magnanimo also fielded well at her own position, fielding a ground out in both the fifth and sixth innings that prevented runners from scoring.

A catch like that deserves all smiles 😁@AvaKuszak pic.twitter.com/vs075Z3YEY
— Wisconsin Softball (@BadgerSoftball) May 9, 2024

Magnanimo pitched all 7.0 innings, allowing just four hits, one earned run, and striking out seven batters. Her record now stands at 11-15.

Batting Cleanup

Hilary Blomberg went 1-for-3 with a solo home run. She is the first Badger freshman to hit a home run in the conference tournament since Taylor Johnson in 2018. The freshman also now has five home runs in conference play, tied for the third most by a freshman in program history.
Skylar Sirdashney went 1-for-3 with a double and three RBI. She now has 19 RBI this season, a new single-season high for the senior.
Tessa Magnanimo tied a single-season high seven strikeouts in her win. She also threw her 13th complete game on the season, seventh most in a season in program history.

Up Next: The Badgers will face No. 3 Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarter Finals. The game will be aired on the Big Ten Network at 7 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 pages.