The University of Arizona softball team (15-2) had a winning weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational with victories over No. 20 Stanford University (12-2), the University of California Davis (5-10) and Colorado State University (5-10) on Thursday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 23. The Wildcats played the No. 1 University of Texas, Austin (15-1) and ultimately fell, 8-4, to the Longhorns in a well-fought eight-inning game. 

No. 11 Arizona vs No. 20 Stanford, Feb. 20, 5:00 p.m

The Wildcats opened their tournament with a strong 4-1 win against Stanford. The game had a slow start with no scoring from either team in the first inning. At the bottom of the second, Arizona’s Jenna Sniffen hit a double out to left center. This put her in prime position to score later when Kaiah Altmeyer would hit a groundout RBI to earn the Wildcats the game’s first run. 

Arizona’s Devyn Netz was able to score after moving to third and eventually home off of a pitching error, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Arizona would cement its victory from both another huge Altmeyer RBI triple and Altmeyer advancing from third to score off another pitching error, putting the Wildcats up 4-0. 

The Cardinal would attempt a comeback with Allie Clements hitting a home run to left center, but this was the last run score, leaving Arizona the victors 4-1. Netz’s game-long performance on the mound was the meaningful difference for Arizona, as the senior allowed only five hits and 1 run with seven strikeouts.

No. 11 Arizona vs UC Davis, Feb. 20, 7:00 p.m.

Arizona ended day one of the tournament on a great note with a 7-2 win against UC Davis. The Wildcats’ offense was on fire as they earned a 6-0 lead within the first two innings. Arizona opened with a bang; in the first inning, Sydney Stewart launched a home run into left field, which sent Regan Shockey home as well after her single just before Stewart.

Arizona entered the second inning with zero hesitation. Logan Cole sent a 2-run triple into right field, Altmeyer hit an RBI single and Stewart hit a groundout RBI that advanced Altmeyer home, pushing Arizona to a fast 6-0 start. 

Freshman Emma Kavanagh hit her first career solo home run in the fifth inning, giving Arizona a commanding 7-0 lead. 

Miranda Stoddard struck out four batters and did not let up even a single hit from the UC Davis offensive. Ryan Maddox would ice the game going 2.1 innings without giving up a run at the plate while ending with a single strikeout. 

No. 11 Arizona vs UC Davis, Feb 21, 5:00 p.m.

The Wildcats started the second day of the tournament with another win over UC Davis, with a resounding 7-0 outing. Arizona’s offense came out fierce early in the first inning, with Altmeyer making it home off of a pitching error.

By the bottom of the third inning, Arizona’s offense was commanding a dominant 6-0 lead. Sniffen and Stewart each had RBI singles, followed by an RBI groundout from Paige Dimler that earned Arizona their edge. A sacrifice fly from Cole in the bottom of the fifth inning would be the icing on the cake as Dimler scored, bringing the Cats to their winning 7-0 lead. 

Aissa Silva pitched an outstanding 6.0 innings, striking out five batters with only five hits and no runs. 

No. 11 Arizona vs Colorado State, Feb 21, 7:00 p.m. 

Arizona ended the day with a dominating 10-0 win over Colorado State, their sixth run-rule victory of the season. The Cats secured a 3-0 lead in the first inning with Arizona taking advantage of Colorado State’s mistakes, getting 2 RBIs from Stoddard and Kavanagh and a fielding error sending Kavanagh home.

In the third inning, Dimler singled through the right side, helping Stoddard and Stewart score to bring the Cats up 5-0. Dimler would then sneak home off a fielding error, putting the Wildcats up 6-0.

Stoddard slammed a 3-run home run to left center, bringing the Cats up to 9-0 in the fourth inning. Sniffen followed by hitting an RBI double which gave Arizona the eventual victory with a 10-0 lead. 

After two illegal pitch calls in the first inning, Arizona’s Saya Swain bounced back and pitched 4.0 innings, striking out three batters and only allowing one hit. Maddox relieved Swain in the last inning and saw only one hit, limiting the Colorado State offensive from any late-game comeback. 

No. 11 Arizona v.s. No. 1 Texas, Feb 22, 3:00 p.m.

A tough showdown against the nation’s best in No. 1 Texas resulted in a loss for the Wildcats.

The first inning saw both teams score 3 runs. The Longhorns gave Arizona a slight panic with 3 runners scoring after two successful outs, causing the Wildcats to switch from Stoddard to Netz as pitcher. Netz managed to get a strikeout and switch to the bottom of the inning. 

Arizona’s scoring came in just four pitches. Altmeyer and Shockey had singles, putting both on base. Stewart would hit the home run that sent all 3 runners home to tie the score 3-3.

From that point to the top of the fifth inning, neither the Longhorns nor the Wildcats could put up a strong offensive front, with only three players from either team getting on first.

The bottom of the fifth inning saw Arizona load the bases, but the Wildcats could not capitalize. 

Texas earned 1 run in the sixth inning off an RBI double sent to left field. After back-to-back doubles in the seventh inning from Cole and Altmeyer, Cole was sent home to tie the game 4-4. This would lead to the matchup entering extra innings.

Unfortunately, the tension would snap with the Longhorns making fast work of the Wildcats, putting up a 3-run home run along with an RBI single. There would be no answer from Arizona and the Wildcats lost the matchup 8-4.

While not the picturesque finish they wanted, the weekend was not over for the Wildcats. They had one more ranked opponent to face before the invitational was over.

No. 11 Arizona v.s. No. 20 Stanford, Feb 23, 11:30 p.m.

After a tough loss to Texas, Arizona closed out the weekend by beating No. 20 Stanford for the second time.

Stewart sent a 3-run home run into left field, Arizona’s first score of the game, at the bottom of the first inning. Stanford followed up with 2 single-run home runs in the third and fourth innings respectively.

The score remained 3-2 for the fifth inning and only changed once Arizona began their scoring finale at the bottom of the sixth inning.  

The Wildcats were close to losing their lead until the team was able to knock 3 home runs. Two homers drove in two additional base runners. Emily Schepp had a single home run in her first at-bat of the game and Altmeyer and Netz each had their second home run of the game. Altmeyer and Netz drove in two additional base runners with their slams. These would account for all 8 of their scores for the inning. 

Netz was both the offensive and defensive juggernaut as a hitter and relieving pitcher. She had five strikeouts and no hits in her three innings of pitching. At bat, she had 4 total RBIs from 2 home runs including the 3 RBI home run that sealed the game for the Wildcats.

Up next

The Wildcats’ next opponent will be Loyola Marymount University, where they will travel to play at Smith Field in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. This will be the Wildcats’ first matchup against the Lions since Feb. 19, 2022, when the Wildcats won 4-3 at home. Arizona dominates the series 5-0 against LMU.

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