The Arizona softball team faced off against Grand Canyon University on Wednesday, April 19, at GCU Softball Stadium. Arizona was looking to get a win against GCU and break a six-game losing streak.
Arizona sent star pitcher Devyn Netz out to the pitching circle for the start. Netz faced GCU’s Hailey Hudson, who had a pitching record of 10-0.
Arizona started off slow in the top of the first inning after Netz hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who turned in an uncommon double play to end the inning. Taking the field for the first time, the Wildcats walked the first batter. After a single got a second player on base, Netz gave up a 3-run homer to left center field. Arizona got out of the inning quickly after the devastating hit.
With a quick second inning, the Wildcats got the bats going in the top of the third. After Dakota Kennedy and Netz got on the bases, Olivia DiNardo hit a deep single to right field, scoring Kennedy from second base. Arizona, with two outs, kept the rally going with more hits from Blaise Biringer, Izzy Pacho and Paige Dimler. All their hits scored base runners and Arizona took the lead for the first time 5-3.
Arizona was able to score another run in the top of the fourth inning after a fielder’s error and a subsequent throwing error by GCU. With Arizona starting to run away with the game, GCU made a pitching change, but Arizona continued their scoring through the seventh inning. The Wildcats got 3 hits and scored 2 runs to extend their lead to 8-3.
Arizona got the first three batters in the bottom of the seventh out, ending the game. Netz got her 12th win of the season and dropped her ERA to 3.29 after throwing only 91 pitches, 56 of which were strikes, giving her a 61.5 strike percentage. The Wildcats also got their first win in three weeks, beating GCU 8-3 with 12 hits and only one error in the seven innings played.
Arizona travels to Eugene, Oregon, on Friday, April 21, to play the University of Oregon in a three-game series that starts at 7:30 p.m. This is Arizona’s last road series of the season. The Wildcats hope to break their 10-game conference losing streak in this series.
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