Arizona softball sweeps doubleheader with 2 run-rule victories

The No. 14 Arizona Wildcats are tuning up for the start of Big 12 play next week. First, they need to get by the four teams and five games this weekend. They got that started with a run-rule victory over Eastern Illinois on Thursday. On Friday, they followed it up with six home runs that led to run-rule victories over Long Beach State and Minnesota.

Arizona Wildcats defeat LBSU Beach 8-0 in five innings

Freshman righty Rylie Holder got her second straight start. Her outing on Thursday night was a no-hitter going into the fifth. She finally gave up two hits in that inning, but they were just two of three baserunners all night.

There would be no flirtation with a no-hitter in Friday’s early game. The Beach have six batters in their lineup hitting over .300. The first is Lina Apodaca, who led off the game with a single. Avery Weisbrock followed with a walk, then things got controversial.

Priscilla Iniguez battled with Holder then hit into a fielder’s choice. Sereniti Trice fielded the ball cleanly and got it to Tayler Biehl at second in what looked like plenty of time for the out. Weisbrock was called safe. While there were replays on Thursday night, including the final play of the game, the technology was not being used on Friday.

“That was a solo game [against Eastern Illinois],” Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe said. “We have to pay for full replay for the tournament.”

While Lowe didn’t mention the cost, outside sources indicate it’s around $3,000 to have replay for a tournament. To keep costs down, Arizona only uses it for single games like the one against EIU or high-stake series like the one against Oklahoma. It will be used for every conference game once Big 12 play starts.

The call and lack of replay meant the bases were loaded with no outs.

No worry. Regan Shockey was patrolling centerfield.

Cleanup hitter Nina Sepulveda hit a short fly into centerfield that Shockey ran down. After three years of seeing her, teams still test Shockey’s arm. Like so many times before, it didn’t work.

“I’m surprised people still run on her, but they do,” Lowe said.

Shockey threw home to get Apodaca trying to turn the flyout into a sac fly. It changed the entire complexion of the inning if not the entire game.

“The priority is always the team first,” Shockey said. “Our pitcher put us in a great spot, and our coach puts in a great position to be in a position to catch those balls. So, honestly, it’s just a routine play that our whole team would make. So it’s just doing the routine things and being where I’m supposed to be.”

The next pitch led to a harmless groundout to first base. Arizona had escaped the inning without giving up a run.

That spurred the offense. Arizona sent all nine hitters to the plate in the bottom of the first. As usual, Shockey and Trice got things going. Sydney Stewart hit one of her patented doubles to the right-center wall to push the first two runs across.

That brought up Grace Jenkins, whose five home runs have her tied with Stewart for the team lead. This one didn’t look like it was going out. She hit one sky high towards left-center. It looked like it would either go off the wall or get caught right in front. Instead, it went just over. The two-run homer made it a 4-0 game.

Jenkins ran around the bases shrugging. Lipreading indicated she was saying, “What was that?”

That brought in Jailynn Banda to relieve LBSU starter Lindsey Cowans. It didn’t solve the problem.

Emma Kavanagh started the next rally with a single, bringing up freshman first baseman Kez Lucas. Lucas was appearing in her 16th game of the season but only had hits in four of the previous 15. Make that five of her 16 appearances.

It was another long ball that didn’t necessarily look long enough off the bat. Once again, an Arizona hitter had one sneak out for a 2-run homer. It was the end of the offensive damage in the first, but the explosion settled the entire team down.

Holder sat the side down in order in the top of the second on three grounders to her middle infielders. Arizona was right back on offense ready to expand the lead.

The ‘Cats did just that with the help of yet another home run. Shockey got on base for the second straight inning. Biehl stepped into the box with one out. Her home run was a no-doubter to right-center. The Wildcats led 8-0 and held on for the run-rule victory in five innings.

Holder gave up no runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in 4.0 innings of work. She was relieved by Jenae Berry, who gave up a hit and a walk in 1.0 IP. Neither Arizona pitcher had a strikeout. Holder improved to 5-0 on the season.

Cowans took the loss for LBSU. She gave up four earned runs on four hits in 0.1 IP. Banda pitched 3.2 innings in relief and gave up four earned runs on five hits. She struck out three.

Arizona Wildcats defeat Minnesota Golden Gophers 11-2 in five innings

The Wildcats kept rolling in the nightcap against the Minnesota Golden Gophers with an 11-2 victory in five innings.

Arizona used home runs from Stewart, Kavanagh, and Jenna Sniffen to break things open, but the walks and singles ensured most of those weren’t solo shots.

It was especially big for Sniffen, who hit a home run in Arizona’s first game of the season but has scuffled since then. She has hit some balls hard, but they’ve been right at people.

Sniffen’s average dropped from .400 after the second game of the season to .167 heading into Friday’s games. She went 0 for 2 against LBSU in the early game before improving to 1 for 2 with a walk and a home run in the late game against the Gophers.

“I feel like it’s really easy to work through things when you have a team like this, a team that comes to work every single day, a coaching staff that helps you get better every day,” Sniffen said. “And like Regan said, just putting the team first is our main priority, and whatever I need to do to be better for them every day is what motivates me.”

Lowe continued to praise Sniffen for being a key defensive piece in their wins even when she wasn’t getting the hits.

“She’s been controlling everything she can control defensively,” Lowe said. “She’s been a lockdown third baseman. I mean, one of the best in the country at it, and she’s just poured herself into the things that she can control and knew the hit was gonna come.”

Kavanagh went 2 for 2 in the early game. In the late game, she was 1 for 1 with two walks and a home run. Her biggest celebration wasn’t for the home run, though. In the bottom of the first, she worked the count full then earned the walk to load the bases. She turned to the Arizona dugout, screamed and tossed the bat with excitement.

“That’s her energy every single day,” Lowe said. “And she really feels the moments of the game, and felt just as hyped for the walk as the home run. So it’s really cool. She’s someone that sparks the fire. And luckily, we had a lot of people doing that today. And we talked a lot about how it takes one person to ignite the offense, and how that can catch, so really happy that we did that today.”

Stewart was 3 for 5 with 6 RBI and 2 extra-base hits over both contests. As usual, she regularly had Shockey and Trice on to pick up those RBI.

“I think having the one-two punch of Regan and Sereniti, it just sparks a fire,” Stewart said.

Shockey was 2 for 6 with three runs scored in the two games. Trice went 4 for 6 with three runs scored and an RBI on the day.

Senior Jalen Adams got the start in the late game. She initially went 3.0 innings and gave way to sophomore Sarah Wright in the top of the fourth with Arizona leading 10-0. Wright ran into some problems and wasn’t able to record an out, so Adams came back into the game and ended up pitching 5.0 innings.

Adams allowed one inherited runner to score but that run was charged to Wright. The senior gave up three hits and a walk without surrendering a run. She struck out three.

Wright faced four batters. All four reached safely on two hits and two walks. She was charged with two earned runs. One came across after she left the game.

Adams started out on-point with a 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts in the first inning. Her offense started out just as hot.

The Wildcats scored four runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the first. Stewart and Kiki Escobar were responsible for two RBI each.

Arizona scored in each inning. The Wildcats followed up their four-run first inning with a two-run second and a four-run third. After giving up two runs in the top of the fourth, they responded by getting a run back in the bottom of the inning. Adams returned to the circle and threw up another zero to end the game.

Arizona will return to the field to face Howard at 4:30 p.m. MST on Saturday. On Sunday, the Wildcats match up against LBSU again. That game starts at 11:30 a.m.

All Arizona games will stream on ESPN+. Stats can be found at Arizona Live Stats.