By Cameron Greenwood
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
It took the Wisconsin softball team a mix of some old and new faces to complete a late-game comeback against Oregon State.
The Badgers won in extra innings 9-3, in the opening game of the Tuscaloosa Regional on Friday at Rhoads Stadium.
Badger senior Kelsey Jenkins continued her streak of production, going 2-for-4 with an RBI while also earning a base after getting hit by a pitch.
It was sophomore Jordan Little who was the breakout star for Wisconsin. Little brought a .100 batting average into the regional, but she sparked the Badgers’ ferocious comeback by hitting a towering two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to cut into Oregon State’s 3-0 lead. Little scored three runs and also drove in three.
“They asked me going into the series is there any dark horses, and I said ‘Jordan, Jordan’s pretty good.’ You know she’s been coming on, obviously, her batting average isn’t there but we aren’t really a team that focuses on batting average,” Wisconsin coach Yvette Healy said.
Oregon State stormed out to an early 3-0 lead while working on a no-hitter through the first three innings. The Beavers eventually gave up the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning, then gave up six more in the eighth.
“Holding on to it won’t help us,” Oregon State senior shortstop McKenna Arriola said. “We’ve got another ball game (Saturday). We’re going to come out hot and we’re going to fight.”
Wisconsin will take on the winner of Friday’s late game between Alabama and Middle Tennessee State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with Oregon State taking on the loser at 4 p.m.
