Badgers earn first Big Ten series win

Sunday, March 22

University Park, PA

10:00 AM

Wisconsin Badgers

16-11, 2-4

Penn State

20-11, 1-5

Wisconsin

Penn State

Photo by: Ashley Steltenpohl

Badgers earn first Big Ten series win

March 22, 2026 | Softball

Box Score

Late spark pushes UW past Penn State in rubber match

By: Maddox Durst

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Wisconsin softball team earned its first series win of the conference season, storming back to take down Penn State, 7-4, in Sunday's series finale.

The Badgers (16-11, 2-4 B1G) plated four runs in the seventh inning to secure the victory, as sophomore Kendra Lewis put UW up, and junior Alivia Bark provided the insurance with a two-run double to put away the Nittany Lions (20-12, 1-5 B1G).

UW got the scoring started for the third time this weekend, as sophomore Kaylie Whidden jumped on a pitch and barreled an RBI single to left field to make it 1-0 after two innings of play.

Right-hander Shelby Jacobson cruised through the first four frames of Sunday's matchup, working around a couple of walks early. UW continued to take advantage, as redshirt freshman Jaclyn Showalter launched her fifth home run of the year—doubling Wisconsin's lead in the fifth.

The Nittany Lions' broke through in the bottom half of the inning, utilizing a defensive miscue from UW to create momentum with the bats—plating four runs to take a 4-2 advantage into the final frames.

The Badgers did not go down quietly, as Whidden continued to be a spark from the bottom of the lineup. The Monument, Colorado, native delivered with two outs again, driving in her second run of the game on an RBI single to cut into the Penn State lead.

It was more of the same in the seventh after a scoreless inning turned in by Jacobson, as UW brewed a late rally once again. Senior Emily Bojan stepped up, driving in a run to tie the game up at 4-4. After Lewis reached on a fielder's choice and plated a run, Bark broke it open with her 11th multi-RBI game of the year—tying five other Badgers for 10th-most in a single season.

Jacobson escaped one final jam in the bottom half of the seventh with the bases loaded, earning her sixth win and second complete game of the season after throwing 146 pitches.

Batting Cleanup:

Wisconsin secured its second win of the season when trailing after six innings, last doing so when they posted five runs in the seventh versus San Diego State to earn a 5-4 comeback victory. In today's game, UW scored four runs in the final frame to defeat Penn State.
The Badgers have now won four consecutive series at Beard Field dating back to 2011.
Emily Bojan has reached base in every game this season, extending her on-base streak to 27 games. The Chicago native holds the third-longest streak in program history, as Kelsey Jenkins' (2017) 31 consecutive games of reaching base sits in second.
Alivia Bark notched her 11th multi-RBI game of the year, good for the 10th-most in a single season. Taylor Johnson (2019) was the last to reach 11, as Bark is tied with her and four other Badgers after a 1-for-3 showing.
Jaclyn Showalter hit her fifth HR of the season and her first in Big Ten play. The redshirt freshman now has 10 extra base hits on the year.
Kaylie Whidden recorded her second multi-RBI game of the weekend, going 2-for-4. The sophomore's two RBI base hits each came with two outs.
Shelby Jacobson tallied her second complete game of the season, throwing 146 pitches, a season-high.

Up Next: The Badgers are set to take on Maryland at home next weekend in their first series at Goodman Diamond this season. Game one is slated for Friday, March 27, at 4:00 p.m. CT. The battle will be televised on Big Ten Network, as fans can find more information on tickets, HERE.