The University of Arizona softball team competed in its first ever Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Wildcats’ first attempt at asserting dominance in their new conference was a strong one, as they found themselves in the Championship game after beating two tough opponents in the University of Central Florida (4-3) and Iowa State University (6-3). Ultimately, Arizona did fall to Texas Tech University in a 4-0 loss, closing the chapter on the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
Quarterfinal vs. the University of Central Florida
UCF entered its match against the Wildcats off a first-round win over the University of Utah, entering the quarterfinal having previously won its regular-season series against Arizona. That narrative did not play out as the Wildcats took the 4-3 to advance to the semifinals.
The game started off to an unfortunate start after UCF took an early lead with 2 runs in the second inning and 1 run in the third inning putting the Knights up 3-0 at the top of the fourth.
Arizona’s response was a run at the bottom of the fourth inning and 3 runs in the fifth. A Sydney Stewart RBI got the party started for the Wildcats.
The fifth inning lead change came from a sacrifice fly ball from Dakota Kennedy followed by a 2-run single from Devyn Netz, giving Arizona enough leverage to pull ahead to the eventual final score of 4-3.
Coupled with scoreless sixth and seventh innings, Arizona went on to win its first ever Big 12 tournament game.
Semifinal vs. Iowa State University
The competition heated up as the Wildcats’ next opponent was Iowa State. Facing the third best team in the conference, Arizona had to remain steady if they wanted to avoid an upset. Luckily, the Wildcats pulled through winning 6-3.
Once again, the Wildcats found themselves playing from behind early as the Cyclones built a 2-0 lead by the second inning.
Arizona tied the game in the third inning when Netz brought in two runners with a single to center field.
Iowa State briefly reclaimed the lead at 3-2, but Arizona evened out the score as a Jenna Sniffen sacrifice fly put the two programs back at the same crossroads.
During the fifth, Stewart launched the ball beyond the fence and sent two other runners home putting Arizona ahead to secure the victory with a final score of 6-3.
Moving onto the championship, Arizona had one last roadblock in Texas Tech University if the Wildcats wanted to reach the Big 12 finish line in the Championship.
Championship vs. Texas Tech University
Arizona would once again have to challenge Texas Tech for the top spot in the conference. Unfortunately, the Wildcats suffered a shutout to Texas Tech, falling 4-0 against the Red Raiders.
Arizona was held to just two hits coming from Kennedy and Regan Shockey, failing to record a run.
All of the Red Raiders’ scoring was done in the second inning. Although the Wildcats prevented further damage, holding the Red Raiders from scoring for the rest of the game, Arizona would not be able to put any points on the board. Miranda Stoddard notably struck out three batters.
Despite the tough 4-0 loss, Wildcats Netz, Stewart and Shockey were all named to the Big 12 softball Championship All-Tournament team.
