This week has been one to remember for the senior class at Arizona as the No. 19 softball team and the No. 10 Arizona men’s tennis team have continued to impress with winning efforts in the thick of their seasons. For the third year in a row, the Arizona men’s tennis team was able to take home another Pac-12 regular-season title while the softball team completed a series sweep against ASU after senior Carlie Scupin concluded the game with a walk-off to seal the victory for the Wildcats.
Player of the Week:
Carlie Scupin – Infield, Softball
Scupin ended the series sweep against ASU with a walk-off to save the lead for the Wildcats to help Arizona beat the Sun Devils 9-8 on Sunday, April 21, at Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium on Senior Day. During the series against ASU, Arizona (31-13-1, 12-9 in Pac-12) was able to dominate straight away from the first game on Friday, April 19, where the Wildcats swiftly won 3-2, from plays around the team which included a hit from Scupin.
Moving into the second game, Arizona’s offense continued to soar after winning 13-3 in five innings against ASU on Saturday, April 20. Scupin had a commanding performance as the consistent first-baseman added on two of the 10 hits marked in the game. She also tallied four RBI leading the team, as she hit her second pair of RBI late in the game that allowed Arizona to close out the win with the 13th run made by Regan Shockey. The Sun Devils seemed to retaliate in their last meeting against the Wildcats 9-8 victory on April 21, but Arizona would score 9 runs on 13 hits to secure the sweep while Scupin would make a clutch play to save the win. The game came down to a single hit made by Scupin in the seventh inning as she also finished with two RBI in the matchup.
After Scupin’s walk-off against ASU, Arizona will now travel to Los Angeles as the Wildcats will move on towards a series of matchups against UCLA that begins Friday, April 26, at 7 p.m. at Easton Stadium.
Team of the Week:
Men’s Tennis
The No. 10 Arizona men’s tennis team (21-3, 7-1 in Pac-12) continued its winning streak, extending it to four after traveling to Eugene, Ore., to take on the No. 57 University of Oregon on Sunday, April 21, beating the Ducks 4-1 at Oregon Student Tennis Center. This win would mark a three-peat for the Arizona men’s tennis team to claim the Pac-12 tennis regular-season title before moving on to compete in the Pac-12 Conference Championships in Ojai, Calif., to face No. 7 seed USC on Thursday, April 25, at 3 p.m. at Libbey Park.
Going into the victory against Oregon, the Wildcats are coming off back-to-back sweeps after beating the University of Utah 4-0 on Sunday, April 14, and the University of Washington 4-0, on Friday, April 19. Against the Utes, Arizona was able to win double points with dominant plays from Nick Lagaev and Gustaf Strom taking the 6-3 win over Dylan Applegate and Gianluca Citadini. Additionally, Herman Hoeyeraal and Eric Padgham took a 6-3 victory during doubles against Jayson Blandon and Michael Blando. Capitalizing on their control, the Wildcats won five of six sets in singles play, securing the sweep over the Utes on Senior Day.
During the victory against Washington, Arizona completed its third-straight win after sweeping the Huskies 4-0 which included impressive doubles performances by No. 29 Colton Smith and Jay Friend as they defeated Dzianis Zharyn and Brett Pearson 6-3, while Hoeyeraal and Padgham accompanied their teammates taking a 6-4 win over Cesar Bouchelaghem and Han-Chih Lin. Arizona followed its doubles victories with winning five of six in singles sets to complete the sweep over Washington.The matchup against Oregon included a 6-2 victory in doubles from Hoeyeraal and Padgham over Ray Lo and Lenn Luemkemann and crucial single plays coming from Hoeyeraal which would secure the win for Arizona after beating Matthew Burton 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Arizona would clinch the No. 2 seed heading into the Pac-12 Championships as the co-champion of the Pac-12 regular-season alongside No. 20 Stanford University who received the No. 1 seed.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
