Arizona softball travelled to Tampa, Fla., this past weekend to compete in the University of South Florida Opening Weekend Invitational. The Wildcats went 3-2 on the weekend, opening the tournament up with a close win over No. 19 Michigan 2-1 and a 4-1 victory over hosts USF.

The Wildcats weekend took a turn in the road, as Arizona lost to a talented No. 5 Florida team 2-3 and then, after a 9-1 slaughter of Illinois State, was upset by a feisty, unranked North Carolina State squad that came to play and walked away winners at 4-1. 

Here are three stats from Arizona’s first five games of the 2019 season.

19
Arizona was able to defeat the Michigan Wolverines in its first victory of the 2019 season with a home run from redshirt junior Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, who had a total of two hits in the game.

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9
In Arizona’s fourth game of the weekend, against Illinois State, the ‘Cats defeated the Redbirds by a score of 9-1 after only five innings by racking up a total of 13 hits in the game, 11 of which came from the top five in the lineup order.

4
Palomino-Cardoza was on many softball writers’ preseason All-American lists, and for good reason. She showed everyone exactly why during her stay in Tampa, knocking four balls out of the park during the five games, with three of those coming to lead off the game.

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What’s Next:
The Arizona ‘Cats are back in action starting this Thursday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m. against New Mexico to kick off the Hillenbrand Invitational.

They will open up the newly renovated Hillenbrand Stadium on Valentine’s Day to host a myriad of teams, including South Florida, Alabama and New Mexico.

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