Arizona softball won its final two games of the Arizona Fall Classic, winning 10-2 over Cypress and 6-1 over Pima on Sunday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
The Wildcats closed out the Classic with their win over Pima, Arizona’s only win that wasn’t a mercy rule triumph.
The UA led 2-0 after four innings, and after PCC cut the lead in half with a solo home run in the fifth inning, Arizona scored four more in the bottom of the fifth.
“I thought we did a good job,” head coach Mike Candrea said. “The one thing I wanted today was to come out and play the game with a little bit of urgency and I like this team, I like our young kids, they work hard, they’re making good adjustments on the field.”
Sophomore catcher Chelsea Goodacre led the way for the Wildcats against the Aztecs with an RBI double and a two-run home run, her third of the weekend. Senior third basemen Brigette Del Ponte had an RBI double and two singles, going 3-3.
“I think we grew a lot over the weekend,” Goodacre said. “Today our first game was a little bit slow on the hitting side and then came back in that second game and just really … we wanted to win and showed that passion and I think that’s what gave us a good game.”
Junior utility Alex Lavine went 3-3 against Pima and scored a run. Lavine bunted herself on base twice and stole a base.
“The one thing that real impressed me today more than anything was our base running,” Candrea said. “You know, very aggressive, looking for extra bases.”
Despite giving up the home run, freshman Nancy Bowling pitched well, striking out nine in six innings and allowing four hits. She was relieved by junior Shelby Babcock, who allowed zero hits in one inning.
Arizona opened up play on Sunday with a 10-2 five-inning win over Cypress.
The Wildcats won on a two RBI walk off double by freshman third baseman Lauren Young with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth. Young cleared the bases thanks to a throwing error by the Cypress left fielder, which scored the 10th run.
The Wildcats jumped out to 5-0 in the first two innings, but Cypress scored while holding Arizona scoreless in the third and fourth innings.
Young had a single and scored a run earlier. Del Ponte had two hits, including an RBI double. Freshman right fielder Gabby Sandstedt also had a two run double.
Sophomore shortstop Shelby Pendley had an RBI single.
Junior Estela Piñon started in the circle, giving up four hits and two earned runs in four innings pitched. Bowling came in as relief and threw a perfect inning.