The Arizona softball team dropped three out of four games against Arizona State this past weekend. The Wildcats were able to take game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, but that game did not count as a conference game.
Here are some takeaways from the series:
Road struggles come back:
After being unbeatable at home this season with a record of 18-0, it has been the opposite for the Wildcats on the road as they only have a 9-8 record away from home. They had a chance to come back and even the series with a win in the last game on Sunday. The Wildcats trailed the Sun Devils for the majority of the game but they were able to tie it up at three in the top of the seventh inning. ASU was able to score in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the game. It seemed as though Arizona was figuring out how to win on the road after completing the weekend sweep over Stanford in their last road trip, but they are still looking for consistency on the road.
Arizona’s starting pitching lets them down:
In every game besides their 15-1 win, the starting pitcher for the Wildcats gave up at least one run within the first two innings, which put them in an early hole that they could never recover from. Arizona’s pitching staff surrendered a total of 17 runs this series which is the most they have given up in once series all season. However, Arizona did receive a great start from Alyssa Denham in the second game of the Saturday double header, the one game that they won.
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Despite the series loss Arizona made history:
In the third game of the series and the second half of the Saturday doubleheader Arizona’s offense got hot and put up 15 runs in five innings as Arizona cruised to a 15-1 win that had to be ended early because Arizona invoked the mercy rule. Hannah Martinez and Jessie Harper lead the Cats with three RBIs each. Denham had a no-hit bid until the fifth inning but unfortunately she lost it after surrendering two hits and a run in the fifth. Her final state line was: Five innings pitched, two hits, one earned run, one walk and six strikeouts. This victory for Arizona made history because it was their largest margin of victory vs Arizona State since 1994.
Arizona will take on Utah at Hillenbrand Stadium for a weekend series starting on Friday, April 23, and wrapping up on Sunday, April 25, with a doubleheader on Saturday.
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