Badgers bested by Buckeyes in weekend finale

Sunday, February 8

Boca Raton, FL

8:00 AM

Wisconsin Badgers

3-2

Ohio State

2-2

Ohio St.

Wisconsin

Badgers meet in the circle at Paradise Classic.

Photo by: Ashley Steltenpohl

Badgers bested by Buckeyes in weekend finale

February 08, 2026 | Softball

Box Score

UW finishes with three wins in Boca Raton

By: Maddox Durst

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Wisconsin softball team fell in their final matchup of the weekend, losing 8-5 in a non-conference game versus Ohio State.

The Badgers (3-2) took the lead first, as infielder Hannah Conger continued her stellar weekend—driving in a pair of runners in the second inning on an infield hit. The sophomore finished with six hits at the Paradise Classic, finishing 2-for-3 in Sunday's game.

An inning later, the Buckeyes threatened, getting on the board with the help of a throwing error to cut Wisconsin's lead in half. Hadley Parisien capitalized with runners on and gave Ohio State the lead, blasting a three-run home run to the opposite field to take a 4-2 advantage.

After the Badgers answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, Ohio State tacked on four more runs in the fourth frame against the likes of Herr and senior Shelby Jacobson to balloon their lead to 8-3.

UW provided one more response in the bottom half of the fourth, as sophomore Emma King came around to score on a leadoff walk via a sacrifice fly from junior Hilary Blomberg. One batter later, sophomore Kendra Lewis stepped up and barreled a double to the opposite field wall—plating Conger to make it 8-5.

Lewis shut down the Buckeyes in the circle for the final two frames, but the Badgers were unable to rally on the offensive end to spark a comeback. After back-to-back singles from Lewis and sophomore Jaclyn Showalter in the final frame, Ohio State's Kennedy Kay earned the final out with a strikeout to seal the three-run victory for the Buckeyes.

Batting Cleanup:

Hannah Conger finished 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBI, earning six hits on the weekend.
Kendra Lewis recorded her second multi-hit game of the weekend, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Danielle Lucey was 2-for-3 with an RBI, going 6-for-13 (.462) in five games.

Up Next: The Badgers advance to their next weekend tournament, as they head back south to Arlington, Texas, for the Dream City Invitational. UW will kick off the weekend on Friday, Feb. 13 when they take on Iowa State at 10:00 a.m. CT, followed by host UT Arlington at 3:00 p.m. CT.