Badgers drop pair of games in Arizona

Friday, February 27

Phoenix, AZ

2:15 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

11-3

California Baptist University

15-3

California Baptist

Wisconsin

Photo by: Ashley Steltenpohl

Badgers drop pair of games in Arizona

February 27, 2026 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)

Comeback effort falls short against ranked foe

By: Maddox Durst

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Wisconsin softball team dropped its pair of matchups to kick off the ASU/GCU Classic, falling 4-1 to California Baptist and 9-8 in a late-night thriller against No. 22/25 Grand Canyon.

Junior Hilary Blomberg was the standout in the nightcap against the Lopes, turning in her second career multi-home run game with four RBI to lead the comeback effort late.

GAME ONE

The Badgers (11-5) got off to a quick start on both sides of the ball with the help of sophomore Kendra Lewis. The two-way athlete jumped in the circle and retired California Baptist in order in the first frame, following it up with a solo home run in the bottom half of the first to make it 1-0. Lewis earned her first home run of the year and the eighth of her career.

Unfortunately for UW, right-hander Miranda De Nava controlled the bats and held the Badgers to a season-low in hits and runs scored.

The Lancers took advantage of a handful of errors turned in by Wisconsin, as the Badgers finished with a season-high five throughout the afternoon. California Baptist plated a pair of runs in both the third and the fifth inning, as that was all they needed behind a quality pitching effort.

UW threatened in the final frame after a leadoff walk from redshirt freshman Jaclyn Showalter, but the Lancers halted a rally to secure the victory—handing the Badgers their fourth loss of the season.

Batting Cleanup:

Kendra Lewis hit her first HR of the year and the eighth of her career. Lewis also tossed a season-high five innings in the circle, allowing zero earned runs.
Emily Bojan has reached base in all 15 games this season, walking once in Friday's game.
Wisconsin committed a season-high five errors.

GAME TWO

The Badgers could not hand Grand Canyon their first loss of the season, forcing a late comeback in the nightcap in Phoenix before dropping their second game of the day.

UW once again took a lead first, as junior Alivia Bark squared up a pitch and sent a double to the opposite field—driving in senior Emily Bojan, who reached base for the 16th consecutive game with a leadoff walk.

The Antelopes provided a quick answer, posting a pair of crooked numbers in the first two innings, highlighted by four doubles tallied by the GCU bats. Raegan Holtorf capped off the second inning with an RBI base hit, giving the Antelopes a 5-1 advantage through two.

Junior Hilary Blomberg followed shortly with a solo home run in the third inning, her fourth of the season and 23rd of her career.

The Badgers provided a strong rally in the fourth inning, plating three runs to cut the deficit to 8-5. Bojan clutched up with the bases loaded, lofting a single into the outfield to drive in two. Sophomore Hannah Conger came around to score on a throwing error by the Antelopes' catcher later on in the inning.

Right-hander Shelby Jacobson came on in relief and quieted the GCU offense, limiting the Antelopes to just one hit over the last 1.2 innings of play—allowing Wisconsin to forge a comeback.

Blomberg was quick to take advantage, as the Verona native blasted a three-run home run to deep left field to make it 9-8 in the sixth frame. The catcher earned four RBI in a single game for the sixth time in her career, good for the second-most in program history.

After Jacobson shut down the Antelopes in the bottom half of the sixth, GCU ace Taryn Batterton came on and retired the Badgers in order to improve their record to an unblemished 19-0.

Batting Cleanup:

Hilary Blomberg hit two home runs, the 23rd and 24th of her career. Blomberg tallied a multi-HR game for the second time in her career, last doing so on Apr. 6, 2025, against Washington. The Verona native racked up four RBIs for the sixth time in her career, good for the second-most all-time in program history.
Emily Bojan has reached base in all 16 games this season, finishing 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Emma King put together her best night of the season, earning the first multi-hit game of her career with a 3-for-4 showing. Defensively, King made a diving catch in LF in the fourth inning.
Alivia Bark had a 2-for-4 showing with a double, tallying an RBI early on in the first inning.
Kendra Lewis finished 2-for-4, her sixth multi-hit game of the season.
UW's offense earned double-digit hits for the ninth time this year.

Up Next: The Badgers are slated for another doubleheader beginning tomorrow morning, as they will take on CSU Bakersfield at 11:00 a.m. CT and No. 24/23 Arizona State at 4:30 p.m. CT. Fans can follow along with live stats housed on uwbadgers.com. Wisconsin's game versus the Sun Devils will be televised on ESPN+.