Mia Buske plates Megan McGinnis in to walkoff eighth inning. 

Following a game-tying RBI single by Megan McGinnis, Mia Buske (SDSU) would walk off the Spitfires to secure Wausau’s first win of 2026. The 8-7 win came in the eighth inning after the Ignite and Spitfires closed the seventh tied at six. The Spitfires would plate the designated runner early in the seventh; the Ignite went on to fight back. 

How it Happened

The game started with the Spitfires going three up and three down, and the Ignite got on the board quickly. Marley Tealsy would walk, and Claire Calmes (UW-Madison) would advance to first on a fielder’s choice. A single by Brynn Daniel (Northwestern State University) advanced Calmes to second, and Megan McGinins (Saint Mary’s MN) would plate Calmes with a single. Riley Schwisow (Northwestern State University) found a single and brought home her NWSU teammate Daniel to put the Ignite up 2-0 in the first. 

A fielder’s choice stranded runners for the Spitfires at the start of the second. Ignite would do the same after  Quinn Marnocha (SDSU) and Mia Johnson (UW-Parkside) singles. Both would be stranded, leaving the score 2-0, Wausau. 

The third inning would go scoreless for both teams, but Brynn Daniel and Riley Schwisow would each single and be stranded again. 2-0 Wausau.

Grand Forks tied the game in the fourth after Riley Stiles’ (Lake Forest) third strikeout. 2 runs would score for the Spitfires after a double and walk, followed by a single to right that would plate two earned runs. Wausau West Graduate and Fresh addition to the roster, Taylor Liebelt (Illinois State University) secured her first hit in an Ignite Jersey. Mia Johnson would single again, and then the Spitfires would shift around their entire field. Claire Calmes reached on a third baseman to load the bases following a Marley Teasley (U of Washington) fielder’s choice. Brynn Daniel secured a 2-RBI single for her third of the night, plating Johnson and Teasley. Megan McGinnis plated Calmes and Brynn Daniel on her 2-RBI double. 

Wausau held a 6-2 lead for all but a minute before the Spitfires answered with a run off a Marley Teasley error and a three-run homer by the Spitfires two-way pitcher, Attison Kwarta. Mia Johnson was left on base to level the score at 6-6.

In the sixth, both teams went scoreless with a fantastic relief effort from Brooke Steinhorst (Loyola Chicago). Brynn Daniel collected her fourth single of the night, and Megan McGinnins collected her third hit of the night. 

The seventh brought another scoreless frame from the spitfires and ignited after another great inning from Steinhorst. Mia Johnson would collect another single. 

In extras, the Spitfires struck first with an RBI single that would score the designated runner to put the Spitfires up 1. Zoey Mills (East Florida State CC) would enter to close and secured two strikeouts. Brynn Daniel went down swinging for the first out, but another Megan McGinnis single plated Claire Calmes, the designated runner, as the tying run. A Riley Schwisow walk advanced McGinnis to second base, and Mia Buske, who entered the game for Madison Werner (UW-Madison) in the fourth inning, walked off the game with a two-and-two count single that scored McGinnis. 

Stats and Facts

• The Ignite won their first game of the 2026 season.
• Brynn Daniel hit four singles in five at-bats, extending her hit streak to three games.
• Quinn Marnocha extends her hitting streak to four games.
• The Ignite stranded 12 runners on base.
• Megan McGinnis won player of the game with a final line of 4 hits and 4 RBI’s with the game saving RBI.

Coming Up

The Ignite will travel to Madison, Wisconsin on Monday for a doubleheader against the Nightmares. First pitch is set for game one at 5:05 on Flo Sports. 

You can stay up to date with the Ignite by visiting ignitesoftball.com and catching all games live on Flo Sports or select games on All Women’s Sports Network.

 

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Leveraging the 31-year success of the Northwoods League, the first for-profit Summer Collegiate Baseball League, Northwoods League Softball (NWLS) is the first for-profit Women’s Summer Collegiate Softball League beginning play in the Upper Midwest in the summer of 2024. The purpose of the League will be to develop players for their college, Olympic and future professional play. Teams will be promoted similar to minor league baseball teams, playing games in front of fans in a fun, friendly, family-oriented environment.