In another doubleheader at the Wildcat Invitational, Arizona softball went 2-0 for the second consecutive day by beating No. 24 SC Upstate, 3-0, and then beating Wisconsin, 9-3, on Saturday, March 10 at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.
Junior Taylor McQuillin got the start on the mound against SC Upstate, and went the whole game, allowing four hits and striking out nine in 24 batters faced.The Wildcats got their damage done in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Malia Martinez hit a two run home run to center field, before sophomore Dejah Mulipola hit an RBI single into left and scored fellow sophomore Reyna Carranco, making it 3-0 Wildcats.
Both teams would go scoreless the rest of the game so Arizona hung on to win behind the pitching performance from McQuillin.
In game two of the doubleheader against Wisconsin, sophomore Alyssa Denham took the mound, and also threw a complete game, allowing seven hits while striking out seven. After a shaky first inning, in which she allowed four hits, Denham came back strong, allowing only three more hits the rest of the way.
Wisconsin got to scoring early in the aforementioned first, taking a 2-0 lead. Freshman Reilly Peters singled with the bases loaded, scoring two. On the other side of the inning, the ‘Cats got two runs of their own. A single up the middle from Mulipola scored two, making it 2-2 after one.
“Honestly, I was just thinking of the team,” Mulipola said of her scoring. “I’ve been in a little bit of a slump lately, but I was trying to just keep it simple, score some runs, and get the ball moving for our offense.”
In the bottom of the second, Malia Martinez hit a double that scored two, and the next batter, junior Hillary Edior, hit a double of her own into right that scored Martinez, making it 5-2 ‘Cats. Later in the inning, a run was walked in by Wisconsin, making it 6-2 Wildcats.
In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Jessie Harper hit a deep double into right center field that scored sophomore Alyssa Palomino from first. Two batters later, Mulipola hit a home run into left field, her fifth homer of the season, making it 9-2 Wildcats.
The Badgers would add a run in the top of the seventh, but were unable to do any more, making the final score 9-3 in favor of the Wildcats.
“We’re still a work in progress right now,” UA head coach Mike Candrea said. “We have to get some better production.”
Arizona will wrap up the Wildcat Invitational on Sunday at 1 p.m., taking on SC Upstate for the second time in the tournament.
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